The Twisted Family Tree
by ThatDudeCalledBob
Summary: Uzumaki D. Naruto knew it was wrong of him to steal money from that straw-hat wearing guy but he couldn't afford to go home empty-handed - that only lead to very little food and a lot of pain - so he decided to risk it. Even years later, he still wasn't sure if he regretted it or not. Young!Naruto Brother!Luffy SHP!Naruto DF!Naruto. Starts after Zoro joins Luffy.
1. Stealing the Pickpocket

**The Twisted Family Tree**

**Uzumaki D. Naruto knew it was wrong of him to steal money from that straw-hat wearing guy but he couldn't afford to go home empty-handed - that only lead to a lot of pain - so he decided to risk it. Now years later, he still wasn't sure if he regretted it or not.**

**Young!Naruto, Brother!Luffy, DF!Naruto, SHP!Naruto, ReluctantAccessoryToStupidity!Zoro**

**THIS WILL SORT OF FOLLOW CANON AND SORT OF NOT (AT FIRST)**

**GOOD LUCK**

* * *

**Unnamed village in East Blue,**

**A few days have passed since Luffy recruited Zoro.**

Zoro asked himself, not for the first time in recent memory, what on earth he was doing in some unremarkable town in the middle of East Blue. There were countless locals walking through the streets and all of them possessed the common naivety that the green-haired man had begun to recognize as the nature of this sea. Being the weakest in the world, East Blue seemed like a breeding ground for normality and Zoro found himself extremely bored. The only reason he was even in the town was because the silly brat he was accompanying had suddenly decided only days after fighting with Captain Morgan that they had been at sea for long enough and needed a break on land.

The swordsman snuck a glance at the young man beside him as they walked through the street. For someone claiming to be the future Pirate King he didn't look particularly impressive. The boy had a small, lithe frame and black hair while his wide, innocent eyes were tainted only be a single scar under one. Along with his red-vest, shorts and sandals was a shit-eating grin constantly plastered on his face - indeed, the boy was anything _but _intimidating. Perhaps the most unusual thing about him was the straw hat sat upon his head, something about it reeked of importance but the green-haired swordsman didn't know what.

_Monkey D._ _Luffy _- it was the name the boy had provided him when they had travelled slowly across the sea in their small boat. It was a good name, a powerful one.

Perhaps that was why Zoro accepted the boy's offer to be in his crew? Probably not; Zoro blamed it on the intense and foreboding feeling he had gotten when Luffy first revealed his strength, deflecting the bullets intended for him. It was less the fact that the boy had the power of rubber and more the sheer presence he had maintained when he decided to step in. For a few fleeting seconds Zoro had seen a serious side of him - for a few seconds Zoro could entertain the thought of him achieving his goals. And who better to follow than the boy going into the heart of the conflict? The Grand Line was a dangerous place and it was really the only place that one could be crowned the greatest swordsman.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when another body crashed into Luffy. He didn't make much out beyond the individual being small - very small in fact - and having the figure of a male before it had darted away with great speed. A muttered apology could be heard as the person left and when Zoro looked at Luffy the pirate didn't seem to have reacted negatively to the incident beyond a half-hearted wave of his hands.

That was good, because if Luffy was the type of person to blow up at what seemed to be a child Zoro would be leaving his crew immediately.

Regardless of his lack of bother however, the rubber-man still seemed to follow the figure of the person who had knocked him with an intense gaze. The usual grin was absent and was instead replaced by a pensive look. If Zoro didn't know any better he'd say his captain was contemplating something.

"Luffy?" He questioned.

For a moment there was no reply before the boy's head turned to face him, "Huh? Oh, Zoro." A grin returned to his face, "Let's follow him."

"Why?" The green-haired man asked, trying not to sound exasperated. Were they really going to follow up on anything and everything that happened to them? A small part of his mind recognised that yes, yes they were.

"That guy was funny!" A short bark of laughter erupted from Luffy's mouth, "He stole my money."

Zoro's face morphed into a shocked expression, "What? How?" A pause, "You have money?"

"It was to pay for a meal. Mmm~... _meat_." Luffy began to salivate at the thought, "And he got it by putting his hand in my pocket, duh." Zoro could feel the sweatdrop forming on the back of his head. Trust Luffy not to understand that he wasn't asking how he did it but how he did it to _him_. After all, from what Zoro had seen so far the teen was head and shoulder above everyone in East Blue in terms of strength. He shouldn't have been caught off guard by some kid.

"Whatever, let's go then." Because if nothing else, watching the pickpocket absolutely shit his pants when they showed up would be mildly amusing.

Luffy didn't bother to reply and instead started laughing and darting off in the direction the figure had taken.

* * *

Naruto opened the dilapidated door to the shack he called home as quietly as he could before closing it behind him, slipping his shoes off soon after. Leaving them at the door, the boy tried to quickly slip past the room right in front of him without making any sound but a stray wooden floorboard betrayed him, letting off a loud creak as he stepped on it. His heart immediately began to pump like crazy and fear struck into him. He stood absolutely, perfectly still - hoping the sound hadn't been heard.

"Brat!" A rough voice pierced the air and with it Naruto's hopes were dashed, "Get in here." Naruto didn't dare disobey and meekly entered the room beside him.

He was greeted with the sight of a red-haired man drinking from a bottle on a couch. From the looks of things the individual hadn't been outside for some time - his hair was greasy and clothing dirty with sweat. For all intents and purposes it seemed as if he had been sitting in the same exact position for a very long time. Despite this the man had a handsome face and features were sharp and distinctive. When Naruto was forced to meet his gaze he couldn't help but shiver; the redhead was looking at him like a predator would his prey.

"Kurama," Naruto spoke softly, "I couldn't get much..." He drifted off carefully before stepping forward and dropping the beli he had stolen from the straw-hat wearing teen earlier on the table in front of the man.

The redhead leaned forward and started counting the amount in his head, "1000?" Kurama snorted in disgust, "That's nowhere near enough and you know it." The man shrugged his shoulders before waving Naruto away with his left hand, "You know what this means... now get out of my sight." At the indication that Kurama was indeed punishing him the boy found himself unable to move.

"Nii-san..." Naruto began hesitantly, "I was wonder- well, could you-"

Kurama immediately stood with an angry glare on his face, "Could I what? Forgive you? Feed you? Fuck off." At this the man stepped toward the younger male, "It's not my fault you screwed this up - like you've always fucking done." Naruto didn't bother to reply and instead chose to quickly try and scamble out of the room. It hadn't been worth even trying; he'd just made a huge mistake.

"Oi! Hold it, I haven't finished." Kurama was a few steps away from the couch now which was never a good sign, "You'll have to be punished for that disrespect." A dark grin settled on his face and he cracked his knuckles before stepping within arms reach of the boy. He moved to swing his arm down on the younger male and Naruto fell to the floor in fear but didn't resist, knowing it would only lead to more pain.

Just as the first blow was about to land however, a loud crash reverberated throughout the room as the nearby window smashed into pieces by a slim figure. Before Kurama could even react the person that had broken the window slammed into him and he let out a loud shout of surprise. Naruto himself simply sat in shock at the sight and with a small amount of fear - whoever had broken through the window had certainly pissed off Kurama which probably meant they were going to die.

For a second there was complete silence.

"Phew! that was a crazy landing." the straw-hat wearing boy grinned as he stood back up from whatever had softened his landing, brushing his clothes as he did so.

A voice could be heard outside the house, "Seriously Luffy, I get he stole some money but breaking his window to follow him is a bit much."

"I didn't mean to! I just didn't want to lose him," He started laughing, "At least this guy caught me..." He looked down at Kurama who was only just starting to regain his bearings, "Heh, thanks for that by the way uhh..."

"Kurama." The intoned with silent fury. As he spoke Zoro could be seen slipping in through the busted window while Naruto openly gaped at the two of them. He knew that look on his brother's face - they were going to be murdered.

"Well thanks Kurama! Sorry about your window, I just wanted to follow the blonde-haired guy cause he took my meat money, y'know." At this the boy nodded his head sagely as if what he had said explained all of his actions.

"Sorry?" Kurama growled before considering the latter part of what Luffy had said, "Wait, you're who my brother stole from? _Naruto_..."

At this Luffy looked over at the boy in question, "Naruto, huh? Maelstrom - cool name!"

"You got caught?" Kurama stepped toward the blonde in anger, "You stupid little brat!" He hissed before raising his hand to strike him. And he would have if Luffy hadn't caught it mid-air.

"Hey, hey. I don't care _that _much." The boy grinned, "It's just money."

Kurama stared at the man holding his arm with a sneer, "If this disgusting brat got caught then he needs to be punished." At this he shook his hand, "Now let go before I decide to hurt you first." Naruto almost cowered at this; he was surely in for a horrible beating.

"Beating on some kid? That's pathetic." Zoro intruded in on the conversation at this point.

"Do you have any idea who you're messing with?" Kurama was deathly calm as he spoke, "People call me nine-tails around these parts." In the background Zoro let out a small laugh, "It means I'm part of a dangerous group. Do you really want to make enemies out of them? Do you really want to die?"

"No." Luffy replied in confusion - Of course he didn't, what kind of question was that?

"Then get _out_." Kurama turned to Naruto as he spoke, preparing to resume what he had being doing before being interrupted.

"Hey, hey!" Luffy shouted, "Leave him alone."

Naruto interrupted quickly, hoping to save the two strangers, "Please, don't worry and just leave. I'm sorry about your money. Truly!" At this he bowed on the ground in apology, "But please don't mess with him." He begged.

A kick soon found its way into his side.

"How disgusting. What would tou-san say if he saw you now." Another kick, "You're an embarassment." He moved to kick again but before he could he found himself on the receiving end of a rubber-punch. He flew through the air from the force of the hit before crashing into the wall on the other side of the room.

"I said leave him alone." Luffy's voice had changed, the tone now serious.

Kurama stood back up immediately, his features twisted into an expression of loathing, "You're dead." In the background Zoro drew one of his katana while Naruto simply sat in shock and horror. He couldn't save them now, Kurama was going to kill them.

"Stop..." Naruto muttered weakly.

"Only a coward hurts those weaker than him." Zoro growled but didn't step forward, comfortable with the knowledge Luffy would deal with the situation.

"_Stop_." Naruto tried again to voice his protest.

The straw-hat wearer ignored him and moved immediately, punching Kurama a second time. This time the hit landed in his chest and instead of flying away Kurama grunted in pain, blood spurting out of his mouth. The redhead moved to strike back but before he could a foot was rooted into his side and he fell to the floor in pain. Luffy moved to slam the man's head into the floor.

He was interrupted by a loud scream, "STOP!" Suddenly Luffy found himself on the receiving end of a hit from... a tree? The teen allowed the strike to send him into the wall opposite Kurama, his surprise from such an unexpected event stopping his thought process. The rubber-man looked over to where he had been previously standing to make sure that yes he had actually been hit by a tree of all things. It had grown out of the floor itself and slammed into him. Beside him, still leaning next to the broken window, Zoro's mouth was wide open in shock. Neither of them had any idea what had just happened.

Kurama however grinned wickedly, "There was one thing you said that was wrong..." He gestured over to Naruto who was covered in all sorts of vines and leaves, his hand outstretched toward the tree that had hit Luffy. The greenery seemed to be protecting and comforting him as it stuck to his body, "He's certainly not weaker than me. He _lets _me do what I want."

"What?" Zoro spat out.

"He lets me hit him because he knows he deserves it. Because he knows he's _scum_." At this Kurama glared at the blonde in pure loathing. Luffy watched the interaction in silence, reminded of another person who had stared at their brother - although he hadn't been at the time - like that. It had taken a long time and a lot of convincing for that look to change.

Zoro however, couldn't remain silent, "So you hurt him because he's powerful? Because he has some devil fruit?"

"I hurt him, because he _deserves _it. Because everything is _his _fault!" Kurama shouted, "Brat, make yourself useful and kill them."

At this Naruto got a desperate look in his eyes and gestured quickly with his hands. Before Luffy could even protest he was bound by vines that seemed to grow out of the floor. Zoro managed to slice the ones that came near him and responded to the attack by moving quickly toward the boy. In a second he was standing in front of the boy with a katana drawn, it pricking at the neck of Naruto.

"So you won't care if I kill him?" Zoro asked faintly, pressing the blade harder into Naruto's flesh. The blonde himself stared across at the redhead in fear, grasping onto the fact that his life was actually in danger. Surely deep down though, despite everything that had happened to the two of them, Kurama would save him though. Yes, Naruto thought, deep down under all that hatred his brother still surely loved him. They were _family_.

Kurama paused in surprise at the actions of the swordsman, a conflicted look in his eyes. That was the only hesitance however and he quickly gave a shrug of the shoulders.

"Do what you want, I'll just kill you after you do it anyway." When the redhead spoke Naruto didn't visibly react but inside he was hurting. The nonchalant attitude of Kurama about his life tore his heart in two - he honestly still thought there was enough underneath all the resentment to make the man try and protect him. The vicious denial of those supposed feelings destroyed him. For the first time in his life, he felt truly alone. The death of his parents and the hatred of Kurama was nothing compared to the current pain he was experiencing. It felt like he was dying inside out.

Zoro's face morphed into a look of disgust but before he could even respond Luffy had moved. He broke out of the vines and sent a vicious punch through the air, his arm stretching across the room.

"_Gomu Gomu no Pistol!_" He shouted as the punch struck Kurama across the face. As soon as it landed the man crumpled to the floor in pain but Luffy didn't let up, immediately pouncing on top of him and hitting him again.

"Brothers," He struck him across the face a third time, "don't," Again, "hurt," And again, "each," This time it landed in the gut, "Other!" The straw-hat wearing boy stood up off the bleeding mess that had once been Kurama. He wound up his fist, preparing to deal the final blow, "Brothers care and protect each other - you don't deserve to have him!" At this he moved his fist down._  
_

"WAIT!" Luffy paused at Naruto's shout, "Please, no more." The boy's eyes were filling with tears, "Please_._" The boy viciously wiped his eyes before prostrating himself at Luffy's feet, "Don't hurt him."

Zoro's eyes narrowed, "Why are you protecting him? You heard him, he doesn't care about you."

"He's still my _brother!_" The boy was shaking in pain and Zoro could only assume it was emotional. Luffy analysed the boy's bowing form silently.

"You don't owe him anything, you shouldn't have to put up with him." Zoro muttered absently. The whole situation made him uncomfortable and it was all because Luffy found the pickpocket 'cool' they were even here. Idiot captain.

At this Naruto stood slowly and nodded in agreement, "I won't. I'm going to leave. I'll go somewhere away from here but I still don't want you to hurt him." He seemed to be gaining confidence, "I'll leave and he can stay here. You won't have to worry anymore, he... he won't follow me." At this Naruto bit back the urge to cry.

Luffy was still staring when Zoro shrugged, "Hmph, whatever. Let's go Luffy." He stepped over the unconscious body of Kurama toward the door.

"I've decided!" Luffy announced suddenly, "He was a bad brother so I'll be your good one!" At this he fixed the straw hat carefully on his head before folding his arms, "Join my crew and you'll be my little brother! Oh, oh! And Zoro's too!" At this Zoro, who had been staring at his captain in consternation, now let out a full blown scowl across his face.

"H-hey! I didn't sign up to that!" He sputtered.

Luffy just ignored him, "So what do ya say? Want to be the brother of the Pirate King?"

Naruto looked at the teen with wide eyes, completely shocked by the offer. For a second he felt tempted to take the man up on his offer but he hesitated. He thought of his real brother, currently laid out unconscious and bleeding. He thought of his past, of his parents. He knew he couldn't accept the boy's offer.

"I-I can't... I'm bad news. I'm a monster." Naruto replied in sadness.

"Really?" Luffy's grin extended wider, "Cool! So am I! And so's my brother. You'll fit right in. Besides," At this the teen grabbed Naruto by the waste, easily lifting up the smaller boy, "I'm not giving you a choice."

And with this, despite being picked up and held by force Naruto couldn't stop the tears from coming out. It was a weird combination of joy, anger, sadness and relief all in one and it was so overwhelming the blonde couldn't find it in him to fight to free himself, simply allowing himself to be carried like a ragdoll with a vacant look in his eyes.

* * *

**A/N: Been saddened by the lack of updated Naruto/OP crossovers so I've decided to do my own. I'm hoping to avoid the typical formula of either:**

**a.) super-powerful immortal Naruto**

**b.) powerful captain of own crew whether marine or pirate Naruto**

**c.) older brother and/or powerful member of SHP Naruto**

**He's certainly not going to be weak but I hope for him to fit a similar level as Zoro/Sanji at first. In the future who knows, maybe he'll equal or overtake Luffy... maybe he won't.**

**On Kurama; this isn't meant to be bashing or vilification. He's not evil or bad or whatever. He's just kind of fucked up. Both of them are - their past has been really shit and Naruto... well, let's just say Kurama's mind has twisted the misfortune that has affected them as entirely Naruto's fault. It's wrong of him to do so but he's not inherently wrong. He's foolish, immature and acting like a horrible person but it's mostly a product of circumstances. Regardless, if he ever is redeemed it won't be for ages. He's got to realise how much he's fucked up first.**

**Naruto's fruit -**

**Guriin Guriin no Mi (Green Green Fruit)**

**Type: Logia (leaves and/or greenery of any kind make up the user's body)**

**Abilities: Grants the user power over nature. This includes but is not limited to all forms of plants and trees. The true strength of the fruit hasn't been seen but it is understood that with great control the user can manipulate nature down to the most basic levels. It's potential is therefore staggering.**

**Weaknesses: The user is susceptible to most forms of fire. This is a significant weakness however with appropriate training the user can strengthen their resistance.**


	2. A Little Brother Goes a Long Way

**The Twisted Family Tree**

**Chapter Two: A Little Brother Goes a Long Way**

* * *

**On a small boat in East Blue,**

**The morning after Luffy took Naruto.**

The little boat bounced against the waves as it drifted aimlessly through the ocean currents. It's small sail seemed to be struggling to find much power, the winds having died down as the first rays of the morning sunshine came through the clouds. On board it's three passengers were laid out in their own respective corners; Luffy had long since passed out with a hand flopped over the edge trailing through the water while their recent addition - the young blonde named Naruto - had been sleeping since Luffy first grabbed and bound him to prevent him from escaping several hours ago. Zoro, the only conscious member of the supposed crew, sat silently with his three weapons rested on his shoulder staring at the other two.

Now that he could get a good look at him, Zoro found he was very curious about the boy. He had sunny-blonde hair that spiked out randomly. His eyes were a deep cerulean tone and on his cheeks were six angry scars, the damaged tissue clearly showing how painful they had been to receive. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt that had a long collar hiding his neck from view and the front of the shirt was done up with buttons, the only visible part being where the collar opened at the neck. On his hands he wore a pair of black finger-less metal plated gloves that had a strange leaf symbol drawn on them. His pants, a dark green, ended at his shins and on his right hip a sash hung, covering everything to just below the knee, a darker green then his pants. His look was completed by a pair of black boots that covered his shins and connected finished at the edge of his pants. Interestingly, the boots were both open-toed and left his heels exposed. All of this was being worn by someone who looked to be about 4'7".

No matter how the green-haired man tried to look at it they had just kidnapped someone. And he didn't even look a day over thirteen. So they'd essentially kidnapped some child. When he'd first met Luffy he knew the teen would lead him to trouble but he didn't think he'd do it so fast - and the crime they'd committed was pretty high up on the immorality scale. It didn't matter that Naruto's brother had been an asshole; it was still illegal to just take him.

But then Zoro looked at the dried up tears that stained the boy's clothes and face, and the small, hesitant smile still adorned on his face and the swordsman couldn't help but feel like they'd done the right thing. Even if he was a boy and this was a pirate ship... shit. Now that he thought about it wasn't it kind of dangerous to steal away some child and expect them to be a pirate?

For all they knew Naruto might have aspirations to be a marine or a teacher or a botanist if his abilities were anything to go by. They'd have to interrogate - Zoro clarified to himself, question - the kid on whether he was comfortable with this later on. It wasn't good for anyone if Naruto hated them and tried to sabotage their crew out of spite or something similar.

A small part of Zoro understood that it didn't really matter what the kid wanted at this point; Luffy had already fixated on him and he knew from experience that he wasn't going to let go.

Speak of the devil, his goofy captain seemed to be waking up, "Uh," He sat up blearily, rubbing his eyes, "wuzzat?" There was a few seconds of silence as Zoro tried to work out what the other man had said while Luffy himself just tried to work the tiredness out of his bones. Luffy, now awake and alert, let a wide grin settle on his features, "Zoro!" He looked over at the other member of their crew, "Naruto~!" He spoke in a sing-song voice.

As soon as his name was called the boy in question immediately opened his eyes and almost all traces of sleep disappeared in an instant. Zoro narrowed his eyes in suspicion; having such a robotic response to waking to his own name - that was incredibly unsettling. To Naruto's credit, despite having his hands bound the boy simply forced himself into a sitting position before blinking innocently at the rubber-man who had called his name.

Before either Zoro or Naruto could react an arm stretched over toward the ropes holding the boy's hands together and untied them. The arm retracted quickly like elastic and the slapping sound as Luffy's body returned to normal reverberated around the boat.

"We're in the water now, you know what that means?" Luffy bounced up and down as he spoke, "Can't escape anymore, we're anchors!" It amazed Zoro how the boy could sound so chipper about such a debilitating weakness. Naruto meanwhile just rubbed his sore wrists absently before pulling his knees up to his chest and hugging them. It was clear he wasn't sure what to do with himself.

Luffy, being who he was, quickly recognised the blonde's discomfort, "So what's your name?" At Naruto's blank stare the straw-hat wearer elaborated, "What's your _full _name?" There was a moment where the other two were sure he wasn't going to answer.

"Uzumaki D. Naruto." The boy muttered quietly.

"Uzumaki hmm? Never heard of it!" Luffy let out a small laugh. Zoro wondered if the boy had even heard of any name other than his own - he doubted the teen was the type to keep track of that sort of stuff, or even have a good memory to begin with.

"It's my mothers'." Naruto added, as if that explained everything. Neither of the other two responded but there was an unsaid acknowledgement as the blonde spoke; children almost always took their father's name. If you didn't it usually meant you had something to hide.

"Well, it'll be famous soon. Everyone'll known you're part of the Pirate King's crew. Shishishi~!" Luffy's happiness was infectious and Naruto couldn't prevent the smile that crossed his face as the other male spoke.

Zoro interrupted, "Speaking of which, do you even want to be a pirate?" Naruto looked at the man's questioning expression in confusion for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.

"I dunno," He mumbled, "Never really thought about it." Luffy felt a degree of satisfaction strike him as Naruto implicitly accepted his being part of the crew.

"We'll be outlaws soon enough," Zoro's voice grew serious, "Are you sure you want to do that? Are you okay with fighting the marines?"

As soon as Zoro mentioned marines Naruto's expression grew cold, "I'll be fine." The other two recognised the sinister tone in Naruto's voice as being that of anger - clearly the boy wasn't fond of the government's law enforcers. Luffy kept smiling while Zoro merely raised an eyebrow in surprise. So something in the boy's past put him at odds with the marines. Probably a good thing considering what they were now.

There was a small period of silence.

"I'm hungry!" Luffy announced.

A shrug was his reply, "We don't have anything left. You've already eaten it all." If Zoro was angry he wasn't showing it.

"But.. but... I'm hungry~!" Luffy whined. The back of one of Zoro's sheathes quickly knocked the teen on the head.

"You should have thought of that before eating all our remaining fruit!" Zoro growled in reply. Naruto meanwhile perked up at the last word Zoro said.

"But-!"

"Luffy-san," Naruto interrupted, "I, um, I might be able to help." With that the boy held out one of his hands and an expression of focus fell over his face. Zoro and Luffy watched silently as a small branch grew out of the palm of the boy's hand slowly and on it's tip an apple expanded and grew until it reached a normal size. With his other hand Naruto pulled the apple off the branch and then allowed the thing to disappear back into his hand.

Zoro gaped as he watched the kid literally grow an apple out of his body while Luffy...

"Sugoi~!" Luffy shouted in amazement. When Naruto held the apple out to him with a small smile and Luffy quickly grabbed it, taking a huge bite out of it in seconds. The boy's eyes twinkled as he crunched on the fruit before smirk appeared, "That's it - you can be our pantry!" He grinned from ear-to-ear as if he'd just solved one of the world's greatest mysteries.

The swordsman on the boat put a hand to his face in consternation, "That's not a real position..." He grumbled.

"Ah, okay then - he's our gardener!"

"That's still not real!"

"Shishishishi~!"

* * *

It took Luffy approximately fifteen minutes to do something stupid.

"Aaaahhhhhh!" Luffy screamed as the bird carried him away from the small boat with his two crew members.

Zoro reacted immediately, grabbing the paddles, "Seriously?!" He threw one at Naruto.

"Luffy-san!" The boy shouted as he caught the paddle and, with Zoro, began rowing to try and keep up with the rapidly moving bird. Naruto looked mildly worried while Zoro only seemed both amused and frustrated by the display of the rubber-man but both paddled quickly. Luffy eventually got so far ahead they could barely see him but the two pressed on, knowing eventually their captain would escape and either land in the water or on some nearby island. Hopefully so long as they continued in the same direction they'd come across him again.

Zoro realised as they moved that Luffy's hunger had once again got them into trouble; it was probably going to be a recurring theme of this crew.

Several minutes of rowing later and Naruto noticed some figures in the water. None of them looked like Luffy though and so when he looked over at Zoro who was showing no sign of stopping he shrugged and continued to paddle quickly. When they passed the three people in the water they ended up knocking them harshly with the boat.

"Sorry!" Naruto shouted loudly as they flew passed them. Zoro looked over at the sound and noticed the three in the water. A surprised look flickered across his face before he mentally shrugged and continued to row; it wasn't his problem three idiots got lost out at sea.

The three in the water grumbled as they watched the boat disappear from their view, "We should have stolen that boat." One sneered.

"Buggy's going to be so mad." Another groused.

* * *

Naruto and Zoro weren't quite sure what they had stumbled upon when they finally got ashore at the small village called 'Orange Town'. The entire place seemed abandoned, wood boarding up the windows and doors of countless houses. As they walked through the streets the two understood at some level that the place hadn't been abandoned by choice; many of the buildings they passed were trashed and some were nothing more than a pile of rubble. It was clear someone or something had caused a great deal of damage to the area.

They soon heard the distinctive sounds of a crowd and, if the jeering and hooting was anything to go by, it was likely a group of pirate or bandits. Only outlaws could swear and curse so outrageously in what should be a populated area. The closer they got to the noisy group the more concerned they became - it seemed like there was some sort of spectacle going on somewhere if the laughter was anything to go by.

Zoro didn't seem at all concerned that their captain might be in trouble though, so Naruto thought he should give the benefit of the doubt to the person who now claimed him as a brother. If nothing else, Luffy seemed like a very capable fighter and the blonde knew from his own experiences that East Blue was mostly home to weak and cowardly individuals.

His thoughts were interrupted by an increase in the furor of the group they were approaching.

"Come on." Zoro muttered and began to speed up, "This doesn't sound too good." It only took them a few more seconds and a single ladder to find themselves looking at what all the fuss was about. Luffy was locked up in a cage of some sort and an orange-haired woman appeared to be preventing a weird looking clown from shooting some sort of cannon at the rubber-man. Things looked like they were beginning to deteriorate and as the odd clown made a threatening movement Zoro reacted.

Naruto watched silently as the swordsman interrupted the clown mid-speech. For a second nothing appeared to be happening. The nature-user could see Zoro was in an animated discussion with the other person and, over the loud group of pirates around him, could make out that the person's name was actually 'Buggy'. Suddenly, Zoro drew his weapons and moved at the clown. There was a short exchange of blows before Buggy crumpled to the floor, cut into many pieces.

"That was way too easy." Zoro grumbled before turning toward his captain and the orange-haired girl. He was about to move toward the cage when the girl let out a small scream of worry. He suddenly felt a presence behind him and quickly realised it _had _been too easy - Buggy had tricked him somehow and he'd fallen into the trap. He mentally prepared himself for the pain of what he assumed would be a blade in his stomach but nothing came. He turned fully around and was greeted with the amusing sight of dozens of vines wrapped around Buggy's floating - floating! - hands, holding them in place and in a way that caused a great deal of pain, if Buggy's wincing expression was anything to go by.

He followed the vines with his eyes until he saw them sprouting out of Naruto's right hand, the boy standing a little away from the group of pirates with his hand splayed out and feet spread wide.

"T-T-Tree!" The girl stuttered in shock, "Plants... boy... what the hell?" She wasn't sure to be scared by or relieved with this new development.

"W-What is this!?" Buggy shouted angrily, "Who ruined my flashy Bara Bara attack?" He looked around wildly before his eyes settled on Naruto, "Oi, brat! What do you think you're doing?" If the man tried any harder to sound furious Zoro was sure he'd pop a blood vessel.

Naruto himself seemed surprised with his actions, "Uh, ah... stopping you? I think..." He shrugged his shoulder before walking to stand next to Zoro, "Sorry!" He added quickly, rubbing the back of his head with a apologetic smile. The vines quickly disappeared and Buggy found himself free again.

"You shouldn't have let me go brat because I'm gonna kill ya!" The clown's words were enhanced by a creepy grin. The sound of a fuse slowly being burnt distracted the man though and he looked over to Zoro who was now standing at the cannon with a burnt out match in his hand. Slowly Buggy put two-and-two together and a panicked expression flew onto his face.

"W-Wait you didn't actu-" He was interrupted by the sound of a cannon being discharged.

A huge explosion soon followed.

* * *

As soon as the smoke cleared from the explosion the group - three males and one female - found themselves leaving the area in great haste. Zoro had picked up Luffy's cage and started running in a random direction almost immediately. Naruto, after some momentary confusion, followed the two silently - knowing that he didn't really have anywhere else to go.

The girl meanwhile only just managed to regain her bearings as the other three took off in the distance. For a moment she considered going the opposite way but the realisation that they were really the only people capable of protecting her from Buggy made her try to quickly catch up.

"Nami!" Luffy shouted from his position in the cage in delight, "So you've decided to come with us?" His expression indicated he'd never had any doubt.

The now aptly named Nami sneered in distaste, "Only until we get away from here - I don't plan on becoming a pirate." At this Zoro turned his head to look at the woman, instantly realising what she had said meant.

"You didn't..." He grumbled.

"Yep!" Luffy exclaimed, "Zoro, Naruto, meet our newest nakama."

Nami interrupted quickly, "I said no!" Her tone was one of indignation. Zoro snorted at her but didn't say anything more; he recognised an exercise in futility.

"Don't bother." Naruto mumbled softly, as if that explained everything.

"What do you mean?" Nami questioned.

"You'll see soon enough-" Zoro suddenly stopped talking as he noticed something standing outside of a building. From the distance he could make out it was an animal of some kind and the building seemed to be a pet shop.

Luffy too noticed the dog and shouted loudly, "Dog! Zoro, put me down in front of it." The swordsman didn't even bother asking why and simply grunted in acknowledgement as he neared the animal. As soon as the four of them got within meters of the building the dog started barking loudly and growling at them. When Luffy was placed down next to it the dog got even angrier, looking like it was about to attack the rubber-man.

"Ow!" Luffy whined in pain as he received a bite trying to pat it.

When the dog saw Naruto however, it's barking slowed to a halt. A curious look appeared on the animal's face and, when Naruto moved toward it as if to pet the animal it laid on the floor, tail wagging happily. Naruto smiled softly and sat next to the dog, patting it's head slowly.

"No fair," Luffy grumbled, "Why does he like you so much?"

Naruto looked up at the question, "Most animals like me," His gaze returned to the dog, "I think it's to do with my powers." Luffy muttered some complaints under his breath about how unfair life was as Naruto spoke. Nami meanwhile walked over to the cage and handed Luffy a key.

"Here. I guess I should give you this if we're teaming up." She sounded like the very idea of teaming with pirates repulsed her.

Luffy just grinned in response, "Thanks!" He quickly unlocked his cage and stepped out, stretching his legs. After some loud cracks the teen turned back to Naruto, "So which one did you eat anyway?" For a moment Naruto was confused by what he was referring to before he realised he was simply continuing their previous conversation.

"Uh, the _Guriin Guriin no Mi_." Naruto elaborated on the name, "I can control nature - trees and plants and stuff."

"Cool! I mean, not as cool as my _Gomu Gomu no Mi_ but still..." Luffy affirmed.

Nami, who had been listening in silence, interrupted at this point, "N-now, hold on a minute! are you two saying you've eaten _Devil **Fruits**!?_" She didn't even realise those things were actually real.

"I guess that clown ate one too." Zoro joined the conversation, laughing mildly at Nami's surprised expression, "It explains the whole floating body parts-"

"Hold it right there!" An aged voice interruped the green-haired man. Zoro growled in anger at being stopped again. An old man approached them from the distance; he was wearing some aged armor and was wielding a spear of some kind.

Luffy blinked innocently at the man, "Look, an old man!" He shouted to the group. Nami gave him a look that clearly meant 'no shit' while Zoro simply sighed. Naruto was too distracted by the now very happy dog he was patting.

"I will not allow you to trample on Chouchou's most precious dream!" He sputtered in rage. "Pirate scum." He finished.

Zoro growled at the insult while Luffy just tilted his head in confusion, "Dream? Chouchou? Who's that?" The old man slowly relaxed from his defensive posture as the captain spoke.

"Why do you care? Your despicable captain, Buggy, hasn't listened to us before." The old man asked carefully.

"But I'm the captain!" Luffy laughed loudly at the man's comment.

Zoro, seeking to defuse the situation, added quickly, "We're not a part of that clown's crew. Different group of pirates..." He finished lamely, realising he had no name to describe their crew as.

"We just blew Buggy up anyway! You should be thanking us." Nami explained, "A reward, maybe?" At this the man relaxed completely, clearly connecting the previous explosion that he had heard with the girl's explanation.

"O-Oh." The man muttered hesitantly.

Luffy grinned, "Don't worry, oji-san! That clown guy seemed really weak anyway."

The man, feeling guilty, offered an explanation for his actions, "I'm sorry for being so angry with you, it's just... my name is Boodle and I'm the Mayor of this town - or I was until that pirate Buggy and his crew took it over and drove the people out. And Chouchou is this dog here. He shouldn't be around such dangerous people but he won't leave this pet store unprotected."

Luffy stared in great curiosity, "Why?"

And with that, Boodle explained the tale of Chouchou's previous owner.

"Wow, what a cool dog!" He grinned as he looked at Chouchou, who was now sitting in Naruto's lap. The blonde boy had been silent through the tale, entertaining himself with the dog. Zoro meanwhile had disappeared into the mayor's house to sleep while Nami chose to listen to the story with Luffy. As the straw-hat wearer spoke, a loud rumbling could be heard approaching them.

Naruto stopped patting the dog and listened curiously while Luffy turned away from the man and instead faced the direction of the sound. Within seconds a huge lion appeared from behind a house, an odd man wearing clothing that seemed to mimic the animal sitting atop it's head.

"Sugoi~!" Luffy yelled in delight. Nami fell back in fear while the old man hissed in anger.

"That's one of Buggy's men..." As he spoke the lion, ignoring them, dashed toward the pet store Naruto and Chouchou were still sitting in front of, "No! He's going for the store. Quick, you have to save Chouchou and the kid." He directed the last part toward Nami and Luffy. The orange-haired girl seemed to shrink in on herself as he spoke.

"I can't fight _that_!" She exclaimed, "Luffy, you're a pirate - do something!"

The teen in question looked oddly disinterested as she spoke however, "Hmm, nah." He announced suddenly, "Don't wanna." Nami sputtered in shock while the mayor grew furious; he knew these kids were scum at heart. Naruto meanwhile had stood up and was staring at the rapidly approaching animal. Chouchou whimpered beside him in fear but stood his ground to protect the store of his deceased owner.

"There's some food for you Richie!" The man atop the lion could be heard shouting loudly in joy.

"B-But they're gonna kill the kid!" Nami was horrified by the blase attitude of her supposed partner in crime. Luffy wasn't at all swayed by her terror however, and instead crossed his arms, the unperturbed looking remaining on his face. Nami, realising he wasn't going to help, turned to scream at the blonde boy, "Naruto! Quick, run!"

Naruto considered doing what she said before looking at Chouchou; the dog wasn't going to leave even if he did. He shook his head at Nami and gave her a smile that seemed both confident and hesitant at the same time.

When the Lion was within swiping distance of the two Naruto raised his right hand and opened his palm wide, "_Kasuru Yasuragi." _His voice, though quiet, carried across the street to Luffy, Nami and Boodle.

A dozen vines suddenly sprouted up from the ground around the lion and hugged it's frame. They tightened viciously and stopped the animal in it's tracks. The man on top of the lion also found himself trapped tightly by the vines, his body forced to hug the top of the animal. The creature, called Richie by Buggy's crewmember, fell to the floor, it's limbs trapped close to it's body.

As this was happening Naruto seemed to be slowly retracting his fingers - the vines reacting in sync with the closing of his fist. He stopped well before a fist formed and simply held his fingers in that position. It was clear to everyone that his hand dictated the tightness of the vines. Any further and the lion and it's apparent owner would find themselves in pain and choking.

While this was happening Boodle's voice was wide open in shock, surprised by the powers displayed by Naruto. Nami wasn't much better off, having fallen to the floor in surprise and slight fear. Luffy's grin extended even wider if possible as he watched the boy stop the lion and capture it. He whooped for joy and gave a thumbs up to the boy who stared at the action in confusion.

"Good work, Otouto!" Luffy shouted happily. Nami, if possible, was even more surprised by the comment. Naruto mimicked her expression this time, amazed and confused by the praise the teen had directed at him.

"Eh!? Brother?" Nami screeched confusedly.

A memory flashed through the blonde's mind;

_"I really like you Naruto!" A young boy spoke, his cheeks still adorned with the baby fat that was natural to younger children. He was wearing elegant, comfortable clothes and had a wide, innocent grin on his face. He was sitting on an expensive-looking rug and opposite him was a young Naruto, who was also wearing clothes that spoke of great wealth, a confused look across the blonde's face._

_The boy elaborated, "In another world we could have been brothers." He paused, looking at Naruto with childish glee, "Heh, Naruto-otouto... sounds like fun!"_

"Luffy-san..." Naruto replied slowly, his voice soft and tinged with bewilderment as he tried to shake the memory out of his mind. Luffy frowned as he spoke, displeased by the respectful and distant way the boy addressed him, but didn't comment on it.

The scene was interrupted by shouting of Buggy's currently trapped crewmember, "Oi, oi! Let me go! Do you know who you're missing with? I'm Mohji, first-mate of the great Buggy Pirates! If you don't want to get hurt you better let me and Richie go..." His tone was dangerous but to all present it was obvious the man couldn't back up his words - to be trapped so easily indicated a distinct lack of ability.

"Luffy-san," Another frown flittered across the teen's face, "What should I do with him?"

"I dunno. He looks pretty weak so it won't be any fun to fight him." Luffy's words were accentuated by a shrug of the shoulders.

"I-I am not weak! I'm a powerful Beast Tamer and once I get out of here I'll-" The man was interrupted by a strong strike to the back of his head courtesy of the sheathe of a sword.

"Shut up." Zoro groused, covered sword held above the head of the person he had just hit. Mohji collapsed into unconsciousness immediately and the lion, Richie, roared in fury. Zoro proceeded to whack the animal over the head so it too was knocked out. When he saw the stares of everyone he explained his actions, "They woke me up from my nap." Luffy nodded emphatically as if it was perfectly justified while Naruto just stared at him with an abashed smile on his face.

The vines on the two Buggy pirates receded into the ground as Naruto let his hand fall back to his side. Luffy bounded over to the boy and slapped him roughly on the back.

"That was so cool! Where do those vines even come from? The ground? Or - or! - do they grow from your bo-"

"That's it!" Boodle exclaimed loudly, "Your actions have inspired me! I'm going to put an end to this once and for all. By the end of today Buggy won't be holding this town hostage, I'll chase him out!" With this he flourished his spear angrily and turned toward the direction Buggy had been before the explosion.

"Are you mad?" Nami hurriedly shouted, "He'll kill you, your no match for him."

"It doesn't matter, I have to try!" The man replied grimly as he continued toward the pirate, leaving the rest of them behind.

"Shishishi~!" Luffy laughed loudly and gestured to the three others, "Come on, let's follow him."At this Naruto nodded mutely while Zoro simply rolled his neck. "Gonna come Nami?" He questioned.

She nodded slowly, "I guess we can all team up - temporarily." It was the first time she explicitly accepted the teen's offer.

"Let's go!" They were soon dashing to catch up to the man.

* * *

The four soon found themselves facing the scene of the mayor being choked to death by Buggy's floating hand. The pirate in question was cackling on a nearby rooftop with his men behind him as the old man struggled. Luffy immediately reacted, appearing in front of the struggling mayor and grabbing the hand off his throat. Buggy screamed in pain as the teen tightened his grip on the end. Eventually Luffy let go and the hand quickly returned to it's rightful owner.

Boodle meanwhile, quickly addressed him, "Thanks for that, Lu-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence as Luffy smacked his fist viciously across the back of the mayor's head. Zoro raised an eyebrow in surprise but did nothing else while Naruto simply lowered his head, not understanding the action but trusting the teen knew what he was doing.

"What was that for!?" Nami bit out, angry for the first time in the day.

"Sorry old man but you'd just get in the way." Luffy explained to the unconscious Boodle. Nami, who had been preparing to launch a raging tirade about the horrible actions of the straw-hat wearing boy, paused in contemplation.

"Good job," Zoro muttered as he put a hand on one of his katana, "He would have been annoying."

Luffy ignored the swordsman and instead pointed at Buggy, "Oi, you with the big nose! You hurt this old man's town and tried to hurt Chouchou, so I'm gonna beat you up." He announced calmly, adjusting his hat onto his head as he spoke.

"Big nose? Big nose!?" Buggy sputtered in rage. He grabbed the nearby cannon and lit the fuse on it, "How dare you! Die!" A cannon-ball flew out of it's opening toward Luffy and the rest of them. Nami shrieked in terror but Luffy simply stepped forward with a grin.

"_Gomu Gomu no Fusen." _He sucked in air rapidly as soon as he finished speaking and his body blew up like a balloon. He quickly stood in front of the cannon and absorbed it's blow, redirecting it toward the Buggy Pirates. The cannon exploded with a loud bang and smoke and dust covers the area. As it cleared Buggy and his men could be seen now on the floor near them, the building they had been on the roof of having been destroyed.

As soon as the clown recovered he shouted furiously, "Cabaji, kill him for me!" The man he addressed stepped forward. He was wearing a funny getup that made him look like a member of a circus. He held a sword in one hand.

The straw-hat wearer grinned madly at his supposed opponent but made no indication he was interest in fighting him. Naruto stepped forward ahead of Luffy, intending to protect the man who had been so nice to him. Zoro however, interrupted his actions by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Oi, brat. This one's a swordsman, leave him to me." The green-haired man drawled lazily as pulled the blonde-haired boy back.

"O-Of course, Zoro-san." Naruto apologised quickly and returned to his previous position directly behind his captain. Zoro meanwhile strode forward until he was directly in front of Cabaji. He stared at the long-haired member of the Buggy Pirates intensely, evaluating his worth.

Nami chose the silence of the standoff to move slowly away from the group, intending to steal Buggy's treasure while he was distracted. Luffy and Naruto noticed her actions and Luffy followed her retreating form silently, a smirk still plastered on his face. When she appeared to have found the direction she needed the teen turned to look at Naruto, giving him a wide smile.

"Naruto," The boy looked up at him, "Protect Nami." He gestured toward the quickly disappearing orange-haired girl. Naruto nodded and moved quickly to catch up to the girl.

* * *

Naruto didn't announce his presence to Nami, instead choosing to follow her silently through the shadows of the streets. He still wasn't sure how she would react to Luffy sending someone to protect her; for all he knew the girl might take it as an insult to her strength. So he was satisfied with simply watching her from a distance, prepared to step in and help if she encountered any trouble.

When the woman entered what appeared to be an underground cellar of some sort Naruto had to move quickly to get through the doorway before it fully closed. Inside, he found himself a dark corner and watched as Nami entered into another room connected to the basement. When she first stepped through the doorway Naruto managed to see that the other room was much smaller and didn't seem to have another exit besides the one she used so the blonde stayed where he was, content to wait until the girl came back out.

When she finally stepped back into the main area of the basement however, it was with the horrible timing of two of Buggy's crew coming through the main entrance by coincidence.

"Hey girly, what do ya think you're doin' down here!" One of them snarled, brandishing a dull and chipped sword. He stepped forward threateningly.

His friend added, "Look in her hand - she took some of Buggy's treasure. We have ta stop her!" The man speaking grabbed a wooden club from his belt, metal spokes protruding from the top of it.

Nami reacted to their appearance and angry stances with apprehension but felt for her staff on her back; she was confident she'd be able to handle the two fodder pirates. Before she could however, vines were suddenly coiling and tightening around the two. The Buggy Pirates reacted quickly, grunting in pain and fear as the greenery held them in place.

"W-What the hell!?" The first man screamed.

Naruto came out of the shadows, his hand extended outward like he had done with Richie. As he moved toward the three he raised his other hand, his fingers jutting out to mimic the appearance of a blade. The two pirates had yet to realise he was behind them and so were struggling ignorantly in an attempt to escape their binds. Nami however, watched as the boy's hand morphed into what appeared to be wood. It was a very light brown and for all intents and purposes it looked like Naruto had a wooden sword-like appendage instead of an arm.

When the boy finally stood behind the two pirates he raised his wooden hand and swiftly brought it down on the back of the pirates' heads. Both immediately ceased their struggling and collapsed into a deep sleep. The vines quickly retracted and Naruto's hand returned to normal.

Nami came out of her stupor, "I could have handled them, you know?" Naruto didn't seem to react to her words though and simply stared at her carefully. If Nami didn't know any better she'd have thought the boy looked like a very timid creature.

"Ah, sorry!" He apologised, rubbing the back of his head, "Luffy-san asked me to help you so I thought I should step in." At this he bowed to accentuate his apology.

"Don't worry about it." Nami replied quickly, a small laugh erupting as she saw the incredibly nervous posture of the boy. This kid was weird. Then her eyes narrowed, he was a _kid_ so why on earth was he in a pirate crew, "Why are you even a pirate anyway? Aren't you a little young?" The boy gave her a mysterious look that qualified as somewhere in between exasperation and apprehension.

"Well you see, Luffy um," He paused to consider he words, "He kind of forced me to come with him to be part of his crew." His words were accompanied by a sheepish smile.

"He _forced_ you?" Nami was appalled, "Hmph! I should give him a piece of my mind - taking kids... honestly," And she turned, as if she was about to march directly to Luffy and do just that.

"Wait!" A brief look of pain flickered across the blonde's face, "Please don't! I mean... he took me but - but - I," The boy was struggling to find the right words, "I like spending time with him. He's... fun." A satisfied look passed over the boy's face, as if what he'd said explained everything.

Nami frowned, "Okaaaay..." She shrugged, "I guess it's your life. Good thing you're happy too - I won't be helping a kidnapper." The way she spoke indicated to Naruto that she herself had her own bad experiences with doing things against her will. Naruto wondered if the woman in front of him had experienced anything similar to what he had but one look of her clothing - daringly scant - and relaxed posture made the boy reconsider; she'd had bad experiences they were an entirely different nature to his.

* * *

When the two returned to the location Luffy and Zoro had previously been they could see the swordsman in question snoring loudly as he slept with his back to a building, swords leaning on his shoulder. He didn't appear to have a scratch on him and Naruto wasn't surprised - Cabaji didn't seem capable enough to touch Zoro in combat unless the man was hindered in some way. Luffy and Buggy were still facing off slightly away from the green-haired man and the two seemed to be in an animated discussion. Luffy looked unusually angry so Naruto knew the other pirate had said something to piss him off.

When they came within an audible distance Buggy, who had been in the middle of a rant, stopped suddenly and looked directly at Nami. His eyes perused the bundle of loot she was holding in her arms before narrowing in rage. It was clear he had realised the girl stole from him. With a roar his upper body separated and flew toward the girl. Naruto moved to stop the man, knowing Nami wouldn't be able to protect herself with the loot in her arms.

Luffy beat him to it however, as he blocked Buggy from getting anywhere near the girl. When Buggy found himself stopped he growled angrily and looked at Nami.

"Girl, give me back my treasure!" He shouted across the street.

Nami stuck her tongue out, "Nope, I'm a thief - which means this is all mine now." She gave him a dark smirk and shook the bag to make the loot jingle loudly. The sound Buggy made at her actions was akin to a bird screeching. His eyes bulged out and an absolutely furious expression flew onto his face.

"That's it! I'll take you out in one flashy attack. Then I'll take my treasure back." The pirate withdrew from where Luffy had been blocking him and splayed his arms out, gesticulating wildly, "_Bara Bara Fesutibaru!" _True to it's name, Buggy's entire body broke apart in hundreds of chopped pieces and flew around like confetti. Naruto could see where the man got the name from; it certainly looked like a party. Within seconds Buggy's body was spread out across the street and, with a loud warcry, the pieces descended on Nami. Once again Naruto moved to protect her and, once again, Luffy halted the clown's attack.

This time he did so by holding the man's feet and, much to the amusement of the spectators, tickled them.

Buggy lost his composure quickly, "S-Stop it! That tickles - STOP!" He half-moaned, half-laughed as the pieces of his body fell to the floor. Due to Luffy he'd had a lapse in control. While his attention was on the teen holding his feet Nami moved quickly, grabbing the pieces of his body and gesturing at Naruto.

"Quick-" Nami directed at Naruto.

"I said stop it!" Buggy could be heard shouting at Luffy in the background.

"Tie up his body parts with your vines." Nami gave the boy a wink as she spoke.

Naruto blinked, "Okay." He held his hand out and vines appeared out of the ground, wrapping around the clown's countless split parts.

"I've changed my mind, I'm going to hurt you instead, Mugiwara!" At this Buggy tried to reform his body in order to attack the teen but only found himself with his head, hands and feet. Eyes widened and mouth gaping open in shock, Buggy turned around to look for the rest of his body only to see Nami standing with a foot on top of all his split parts which were tied up with vines. She had a devious smirk on her face which only grew wider when he looked at her.

"How dare you-"

"Shishishi~" Luffy's laughter echoed loudly around them, "You're a pretty funny clown. But still, I gotta beat you up so," At this Luffy's arms began to stretch while he held himself in a rigid posture, "_Gomu Gomu no __Bazūka_!" He thrusted both of his arms forward and they struck the other pirate, sending him flying into the air. Buggy screamed in pain and terror as he was sent what appeared to be hundreds or even thousands of meters.

When the clown finally left their sight Luffy turned to the other two with a shit-eating grin on his face, "Come on, let's go wake up Zoro."

* * *

**A/N: If I seem to skip over fights and/or conversations you can safely assume they play out in a similar or identical fashion to canon (e.g. Luffy vs Buggy). I don't really want to waste my time writing it out and your time reading it.**

**Gonna apologise in advance if I'm slightly off with canon events - been a while since I've last seen the really early parts of OP. Besides this is a fanfic so who cares, right?**

**I'm sorry for my attempts to translate English to Romaji/Japanese. It'll probably be terrible, forgive me.**

**Naruto's past is going to be very convoluted; you'll be getting little hints and drops of info here and there, so make sure to pay attention. Feel free to theorize and/or guess - there's a lot to it!**

**_Kasuru Yasuragi - Imposed Serenity_**


	3. A Lie a Day Keeps the Pirates Away

**The Twisted Family Tree**

**Chapter 3: A Lie a Day Keeps the Pirates Away**

* * *

**On a small boat in East Blue,**  
**Moments after being driven out of Orange Town by the population.**

Luffy was still grinning from seeing the people of Orange Town chasing them out for hurting their mayor.

"It's really not that funny!" Nami's exasperation was palpable.

Zoro snorted at her fury but didn't comment, instead choosing to return to sleep - which he had been doing since the group had left. He was napping on their original ship with his swords while Luffy sat at the front of it. Nami and Naruto were on the other boat; the orange-haired girl's one. The only blonde of the group was watching this interaction silently from the edge of the boast, his hand hung out on the side trailing through the water.

"Sorry Nami," Luffy smiled cheekily, "I hope I haven't upset my new navigator too much!" The comment was accentuated by a a stamp of his feet on the boat's floor.

"It's only temporary! As soon as this isn't beneficial and you make me lose money, I'm out." She hastily interjected. Luffy nodded emphatically, muttering 'sure' under his breath several times. Naruto realised immediately that there was no hope of Nami escaping the crew now. As soon as she decided to follow them out of Orange Town she'd signed her soul to the straw-hat devil. "Anyway, where are we going now?"

"Hmm," Zoro's eyes opened in interest as their captain considered Nami's question, "Dunno." The straw-hat wearers reply earned another laugh out of Zoro and a small smile out of Naruto as well. Nami was anything but amused.

"Seriously? Who even are you? How does this crew function?" As soon as she finished speaking however, she recognised that three people couldn't possibly be called a crew anyway.

"It doesn't." Zoro muttered under his breath before turning to the side to get in a more comfortable position to sleep. If Luffy was upset by either's words he didn't show it, instead smiling brightly at both of them.

"Well if you really do want to sail the Grand Line you'll at least need a ship." Nami explained calmly. Naruto's head jutted up in curiosity as she spoke.

"Grand Line?" Naruto interjected. Nami looked at him in confusion; she'd assumed everyone knew of Luffy's plans.

Luffy, thankfully, entered the conversation, "Yeah! To become the Pirate King I gotta find One Piece and to do that I gotta go to the Grand Line. Apparently it's _super _cool!" Stars manifested in the teen's eyes as he finished.

"Wait, you mean you took a kid against his will to become a pirate and didn't even tell him where you were heading?" The orange-haired girl rubbed her forehead anxiously, "Is it bad I'm starting to not be surprised?" She aimed the question at herself so no one answered. "Naruto, do you _want _to go to the Grand Line?"

The boy shrugged, "I don't mind." As if the entire concept of the dangerous ocean meant nothing to him.

"Do you understand how horrible that place is?" She added, not sure if the boy actually comprehended what she was saying.

"I've been there before." The blonde spoke carefully and didn't add anything to explain his words.

"O-Oh..." Nami didn't know how to respond to that.

"Really!? What's it like? Is it cool?" Within seconds Luffy was in Naruto's face, holding the boy's shoulders, "Is it fun?" Naruto grimaced at the questions and Zoro, who had opened his eyes as soon as the Grand Line had been mentioned, noticed the expression. For the swordsman it was yet another indication that Naruto wasn't all he seemed.

"No," Naruto whispered, "No it wasn't."

Even Luffy, as socially inept as he was, realised he'd ventured into unpleasant territory for the boy and so stopped his questioning immediately, blinking slowly at the pained visage of Naruto.

The teen rested his hand on Naruto's head, "Don't worry," He ruffled his hair, "We'll protect you. We'll protect each other. We're nakama now." He spoke with such resolution and confidence that for a second the blonde actually believed him.

There was a brief period of silence.

"Zoro?" Luffy asked.

The swordsman kept his eyes closed as he answered, "What?"

"I'm hungry~."

This time it was Naruto who laughed.

* * *

Eventually the mismatched group found themselves approaching land; it was a small island and they could make out a quaint cliff-side entry into the forests. For all intents and purposes it looked inhabited but was obviously not densely populated. They'd likely encounter a small village of some kind if anything. As soon as the boat was within stepping distance of the beach Luffy jumped out enthusiastically.

"Yosh! Land!" His happiness was infectious and when the other three also found themselves beside him on the beach they too felt a twinge of relief at the feeling of hard ground beneath their feet.

"So what now?" Nami directed her question at everyone.

"Food." Luffy stated in a matter-of-fact tone, as if it he shouldn't even have to voice it. Just as the group was about to head up the entryway however, they were interrupted by the appearance of dozens of pirate flag hanging in the treeline of the forest. As suddenly as they appeared a man stood from the shrubbery; he was wearing a bandana on his long black hair and overalls hung off his frame. A bag of some sort was hanging from his shoulders and a white fabric was tied around his waist.

"Stop right there, pirates!" He spoke confidently but his entire body was shaking, "Syrup Village is under the protection of the great Usopp Pirates - I have 80 million followers surrounding you. Turn back now!" Naruto was sure if he was closer he'd be able to hear the man's teeth clattering from fear. Nami stopped herself from laughing out loud; what kind of fool fell for such an obvious lie?

"80 million!? S-S-SUGOI~!" Luffy shouted in absolute amazement.

A fist descended on the back of his head, "He's lying you idiot! The guy's practically shaking in fear - he probably only has a handful of people-"

"Three," Naruto voiced, "He has three people with him." As soon as the blonde spoke three voices erupted in squeals of fear.

"He's found us!" A very young voice could be heard, acting as if it had somehow been difficult to see the small beds of hair sticking out of the bushes.

"What should we do Captain? They've seen through our trick." Another questioned, his tone that of worry.

"Waaah! I've been caught!" The man screamed, holding his face.

Luffy burst into laughter, "Hahaha! You're so funny."

"Could you get the kids to come out already, they're annoying me." Zoro spoke up for the first time since landing. Immediately rustling could be heard in the bushes before three small figures dashed out going the completely opposite way from the swordsman.

"Ruuuuuun! We have to escape and tell the town!" The three boy's were disappearing from the horizon.

"H-Hey! Don't abandon me..." Usopp muttered in despair as he saw his supposed underlings leave. At this Luffy only laughed louder while Nami gave out a little giggle.

"Don't worry," The girl explained, "We're only here to try find a ship." She tried to calm the man's nerves.

"And food." Luffy chipped in quickly. Usopp's head whipped over to stare at him before looking over to Zoro.

The swordsman shrugged, "Sake." Usopp turned his head to Naruto, expecting to hear another request - which at the current time he was considering may actually be a list of demands.

"Uh, what they said...?" The blonde said absently. A fist immediately crashed into his head.

"You're too young to drink!" Nami shrieked.

"Itai~" The boy rubbed his head gingerly. Luffy laughed again.

* * *

"So you're looking for a ship and companions?" Usopp asked the group. They had moved from the beach into the village itself and found themselves in a small restaurant of some sort. Luffy and Zoro were enjoying their respective guilty pleasures while Naruto was spinning several leaves in his hand for amusement. Nami, at least, had the decency to be attentive to the man who had led them into the building.

"Yep!" Luffy confirmed in between bites.

"Hmm, I might know where you could find a ship..." Usopp hinted carefully, an air of mystery around him.

Luffy immediately leaned forward in excitement, "Really!? Where? How?" Nami quickly pulled him back into his seat with a loud huff of irritation.

"Well there's a mansion on this island and the girl who lives there is very rich," He explained uneasily, "But she's also very sick and miserable so it might be hard to get her to help." His last words didn't seem to have any effect on the straw-hat wearer though, who had not stopped grinning since he mentioned the mansion.

"Eh?" Nami's was aghast, as if the very idea of being sad while rich was foreign to her, "Why?"

And so Usopp went on to explain the tale of Kaya and the death of her parents.

"That _is _sad." Nami conceded, "Oh well, we don't have to get a ship on this island - we'll just leave."_  
_

"Not without lots of meat!" Luffy interrupted.

"And sake." Zoro pipped in as he took a large swig from his bottle.

Nami nodded slowly, "I guess we're not in a hurry."

Just as she spoke the group was interrupted by three voices shouting loudly.

"The Usopp Pirates are..." The kids paused as they took in the sight of their supposed enemy eating calmly, "... here."

"Who're they?" Nami asked.

"Dunno." Luffy shrugged his shoulders before returning to eating.

Naruto, who had been enjoying the view outside the window and playing with his powers until now, explained absently, "It's the same three from the beach." No one questioned how he knew this but Zoro once again narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Where's our captain?" They demanded angrily.

"Ah, that was some great meat." Luffy ignored the three and patted his stomach in contentment. The three children were horrified by this action and began to stutter in fear.

"Y-You don't think they a-a-"

"Ate him." Zoro's face turned dark and evil as he spoke, his voice cold.

"AHHH!" The boys screamed collectively as one before falling to the floor, their legs giving way through terror. Zoro immediately started barking in laughter at the sight while Nami and Naruto laughed mildly at the scene. Luffy just stared on in confusion, not entirely understanding what was going on.

When the three regained their sense they quickly realised they'd been tricked and Zoro had only been joking. With this came the understanding of where their captain most likely actually was.

"It's _that _time again." The chimed as one.

"That time...?" Nami prompted.

* * *

Usopp was midway through telling Kaya about a thrillng adventure involving a giant goldfish when he was rudely interrupted by the sound of countless bodies crashing into the floor. Turning around to face the direction of the sound, he found himself face to face with the three supposed members of the Usopp Pirates as well as the four actual pirates from before.

"What're you all doing here?" He asked gruffly, irritated that he'd been interrupted mid-lie.

"We brought this guy here becau-

"So you're the ojousama!" Luffy interrupted the boy - Piiman - and walked confidently over to the window that Kaya still had her head sticking out from.

"Who's that?" Kaya asked uncertainly. It was obvious she was referring to Luffy; the teen had already established himself as the center of attention through their entrance.

Usopp, trying to restore order, stated, "These guys are big admirers of me, you see. They're new members of the Usopp Pirates-" He was stopped mid-tirade by Luffy.

"No, that's not true." The straw-hat wearer calmly interjected. "We're actually here to ask a favor!" At this his smile widened.

Kaya frowned in confusion, "A favour from _me_?" It was clear she wasn't used to the idea of people wanting her help.

"We need a ship." Nami took pity on her and explained why they were here in simple terms, understanding Luffy might be difficult to deal with for someone just meeting him.

"Yeah, a big one with - with! - sails and-"

This time Luffy was interrupted, "What do you people think you're doing? You're intruding on private property!" A cold voice cut through the air. A man wearing an expensive suit, glasses framing his face, was striding toward them confidently.

"Klahadore..." Kaya muttered uncertainly, not liking the hostility in the air.

"You can't just barge in like this... Please, get out." He sneered.

"But," Luffy whined, "My _ship_."

"Absolutely not!" Klahadore denied. Zoro snorted at the man's display of arrogance, clearly not thinking much of what seemed to be a butler on a power-trip. Naruto and Nami both simply frowned at the display but remained silent. When the man noticed Usopp an angry look passed over his face, "You're that Usopp right? The villagers often tell me about you..."

The slingshot-user smirked at this, "Why thank you, I didn't know tales of the great Captain Usopp had alrea-"

"You're the son of a filthy pirate right?" Klahadore interrupted calmly.

"_What!?"_ Usopp's face darkened with fury.

Naruto shifted over slightly to Luffy and spoke quietly enough so that only the captain, Nami and Zoro could hear, "That man - he isn't right... He's," Naruto paused, as if trying to find the right words, "He feels dark. _Evil_." Luffy blinked at his words, taking them in, but didn't make any outward reaction to them. Nami simply narrowed her eyes and studied the servant for herself. Zoro made a disatisfied clicking sound with his tongue before moving slowly toward Usopp, clearly intending to defuse the situation.

"I guess it's no surprise then that you're the same... you should have just lied about your dirty blood and said he was a merchant. Anything else would have been better." Klahador continued calmly, attacking Usopp's character without hesitation.

Usopp, having lost his patience, struck him. Or he would have had he not been held back by Zoro. When the teen turned his furious eyes toward Zoro in reaction to being prevented from dishing out some punishment, the swordsman shook his head.

"He's not worth it." He stated simply.

At this Usopp's brow furrowed and he lowered his face, shadows covering his eyes. When he looked back up he was remarkably more calm.

"Fine," The teen bit out, "I'll leave!" He swiveled in the direction of the exit with a great huff, a look of consternation on his face.

Kaya quickly demanded, "Klahadore! That was cruel - If you're going to be so," Her voice grew in a rare display of confidence, "So unfair then I don't want you around when Usopp visits!" As soon as she finished Kaya seemed to realise her own actions and hunched her shoulders in nervousness. Klahadore, who had been silent throughout the girl's admonishment of him, simply sighed in sadness.

"I understand Ojousama." He bowed in apology, "I just don't want you to get hurt, you understand..." At this he turned toward three young children and Luffy's group, "I'm sorry for my harsh words but I must ask that you leave."

"It's ok," Luffy nodded in grave severity, "I understand." His tone was pompous - an attempt to imitate his idea of a lord or lady.

"There's nothing you can do to sound like a gentleman." Zoro muttered, amused by his captain's antics. Nami, seeing an opportunity to leave without a hassle, turned to the remaining people.

"Come on, let's go." When the three kids showed no sign of leaving she growled angrily, "I said, _let's go_." Her voice had a sickly sweet tone and the three, suddenly fearing for their lives, bolted out of the area in seconds. Luffy meanwhile allowed himself to be dragged out of the courtyard by Zoro while Naruto followed in a slow walk.

* * *

Several minutes later Naruto found himself with Nami, Zoro and two of the kids sitting at a roadside fence. Zoro and the kids were leaning on the fence while Nami sat on the railing and Naruto leaned on a nearby tree. They were all deep in thought, considering the actions of Usopp and the Butler, Klahadore, and how close it had come to blows.

To Naruto the entire situation had been incredibly uncomfortable; his whole body had shook in reaction to the dark intentions rolling off of the butler and when Usopp had gotten furious due to the remarks about his father the blonde had found himself assaulted by a combination of despair, pride and anger all at once. He was thankful that Zoro had stopped a fight from breaking out.

"Where's Luffy?" Nami asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

Zoro shrugged, "Maybe he went after Usopp?" He didn't sound particularly worried.

"If he's looking for the captain then they'd be at that place." Ninjiin deduced.

"Yeah, the captain always goes to the shoreline when he's upset." Piiman added enthusiastically, happy to be of help. Nami, noticing the absence of the other child, decided to speak up.

"Where's your other friend?" She probed in mild curiosity.

"Oh, you mean Tamanegi?" Ninjiin confirmed, "He's probably over-reacting about something."

"WE'RE IN TROUBLE!" Tamanegi screamed from the road, running toward them rapidly in fear, "There's some weirdo who walks backwards coming!" He added, short of breath.

"Liar." Ninjiin and Piiman immediately countered in deadpan voices.

"No, no! Look!" At this Tamanegi pointed toward the way he came from and, to the surprise of the others, a man _was _walking backwards down the road.

When Zoro and Nami looked over the noticed that Naruto, who had been leaning on the tree, had disappeared, "Where'd Naruto go...?" Nami asked uneasily. Zoro didn't bother to answer, entirely uninterested in the disappearing act of both his captain and his crewmate.

As soon as the odd man was within hearing distance of the group he began to speak.

"Hey, who said I was a weirdo? I am not a weirdo, I'm just a simple hypnotist." He explained, as if hypnotists were a common thing to come across. At their skeptical looks the man decided to add, "Want a demonstration?"

What immediately followed was an amusing case of self-hypnotism as the three boys and the man - Jango - fell victim to the curious circular blade's hypnotic powers. When they came to the name continued into the town, giving them a light-hearted wave as they left.

The boys, still amazed by the actions of the man, suddenly realised the absence of the youngest pirate, "Hey, where's that blonde guy?" Ninjiin voiced for the group.

Nami and Zoro had no answer for them but were fortunately saved from admitting so when a bunch of leaves began kicking up in the tree that Naruto had been near. They swirled around the lowest branches before a form began to take shape. In seconds Naruto's face appeared upside down in the tree, created from what was previously simple leaves in a tree. Nami's mouth opened in surprised while one of the boy's, Tamanegi, shrieked in surprise and fear.

"Sorry," Naruto announced lightly from his upside-down position, "I was worried he might be an enemy." The boy explained. Zoro nodded in appreciation of the blonde's forethought, not at all shocked by the boy's sudden appearance from leaves.

"L-L-Leaf-man!" Tamanegi stuttered while Piiman and Ninjiin's mouthes opened and closed like fish.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion before suddenly realising they'd never seen his Devil Fruit powers before. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment and jumped down to the floor, "Ah, not exactly." He replied apprehensively.

"Your devil fruit let's you turn _into _leaves?" Nami demanded._  
_

Naruto nodded slowly, "It's a logia. Transforming is hard though, I can only do it with a lot of concentration." Naruto blinked when he realised the three children were listening in before looking at them, "I ate a Devil Fruit." He added for their benefit.

"M-M-Monster!" Piiman bit out in both fear and awe. Naruto winced slightly at the word.

"Hardly," Zoro chuckled loudly, "He's just a brat like you." The blonde blinked at the swordsman, unsure to take what he said as a compliment or insult. He settled for being thankful that the man had steered the conversation away from his powers.

Ninjiin suddenly realised something as Zoro spoke, "Yeah, wait a minute. How can _you _be a pirate? You don't look much older than us..." He whined, as if affronted he wasn't allowed to be one while this stranger was.

"I dunno," Naruto truly didn't, "I didn't exactly choose this." Now that he thought about it, could he even consider himself a pirate? He wasn't really interested in One Piece nor in treasure at all. He didn't have any reason to be at sea beyond Luffy's demand that he be his nakama. He'd simply been going with the flow previously because Luffy had seemed a lot more fun than stealing for his brother... his _brother_._  
_

Naruto shuddered internally, he hadn't even thought about Kurama since they'd left. For a moment he wondered what the other man thought about his absence before dismissing the thought; the redhead was probably relieved Naruto had disappeared.

"I guess," Naruto started slowly, "Because Luffy's fun?" He finished hesitantly, unsure about what he was saying. Zoro found himself silently agreeing - if there was one thing Luffy was good at it was making things interesting. This village was an example of that; they hadn't even been here a full day and the teen had already gotten them caught up in some sort of feud between a butler and pirate's son. Which reminded him...

"Oi gaki," Four heads turned to look at the swordsman, "_Naruto._" He clarified, the other three sighed in relief, glad the scary man wasn't talking to them, "What was with that servant at that girl's house anyway? You said he felt evil?" At the time Zoro didn't really put much thought into how Naruto phrased his suspicions, simply acting on instinct to stop Usopp from doing something he'd regret. Now though, the very idea that Naruto somehow sensed the other guy was disconcerting.

Naruto blinked, "I guess I could feel his emotions." The blonde stopped to consider how best to explain it, "I guess I've been able to do it for a while now. Only with bad stuff though," He grew unsure as he spoke, "I don't know why... you don't think there's something wrong with me do you?" The boy grew pale; he'd never even thought about how he always knew intrinsically if someone meant harm - it just came to him naturally.

"No," Zoro shrugged halfheartedly, "I guess I can relate to it but I only ever experience that sort of thing in battle." The swordsman didn't elaborate on what he meant and decided internally that he would definitely look into these supposed powers of premonition.

Nami decided to speak up as the conversation lulled to a stop, "That butler was a jerk anyway. It doesn't take magical powers to see it." She huffed, "How someone like him could ever get a job like that amazes me."

"His hands were worn..." Zoro's eyes narrowed as he spoke.

"Huh?" Nami paused in confusion.

"His hands, they were calloused - they had wounds that could only come from blades... as if he'd used them extensively before." Zoro suddenly recognised an uncomfortable feeling building deep in his stomach - there was something dangerous going on on this island.

"What kind of butler needs to use swords?" Tamanegi voiced.

Nami frowned, understanding now what Zoro was getting at, "No type of butler."

"Uh," Naruto interrupted their ramblings, "Someone's coming." At this everyone looked up to see a figure on the horizon coming from the direction the coast was. After a few seconds they could make out it was Usopp. When the teen passed them he didn't even spare a glance at them, madly dashing onward toward the village.

"Weird, didn't you say Luffy would be with him?" Nami questioned Zoro. The man nodded slowly in confirmation to her question but his mind was elsewhere; obviously something had forced his captain to abandon his pursuit of Usopp. He didn't like to imagine something that could accomplish that.

"Something must have happened at the coast..." Piiman muttered slowly.

"The coast," Zoro gazed at them with an intense expression on his face, "Which way is it?"

* * *

When they arrived at the beach they were greeted with a grim sight. Standing over the edge of the cliff they could make out Luffy's figure at the bottom. His head was stuck in the ground and he was deathly still. The three young boys screamed when they saw him, sure he was dead, while Zoro sighed in consternation. He descended the cliff-side without delay and Nami and Naruto followed closely behind. When they got to the bottom Zoro wasted no time in grabbing the straw-hat wearer by the leg and pulling him out of the ground with a harsh tug.

"Huurgh?" The teen moaned, wiping the sleep from his eyes, "Where am I?" One second he was dreaming about some delicious meat and the next he was rudely awoken.

"How could you be sleeping now?" Nami was appalled that the boy had fallen asleep with his head in the ground.

"Oh! That's easy to explain." Luffy stated calmly, "I was hypnotised." He announced in a deadpan voice. Nami felt anger bubble inside her as Zoro laughed at the teen's response and resisted the urge to strike the pirate across the head.

"Why?" Naruto prodded, keen to avoid the display of violence from the orange-haired girl.

Suddenly Luffy's face grew serious, "I have something to tell you about that butler."

Then came the tale of Klahadore - actually the pirate captain Kuro - and his nefarious plot to steal Kaya's riches for himself.

* * *

**A/N: Short chapter but the next one will have a lot more action, obviously.**

**Ugh, the gathering of the crew is so painful to write but necessary.**

**There seems to be some confusion on Naruto's DF. To clarify; it is a Logia and, much like how Aokiji/Akainu can make bloody islands out of their powers Naruto can manipulate Nature outside of his body too (of course, he's not able to do what anywhere near what they can do yet). I added a little scene for clarification in the story.**


	4. Old Enough to Kill, Old Enough to?

The Twisted Family Tree

**Chapter 4: Old Enough to Kill Old Enough to...**

* * *

When Luffy and co finally returned to the village they ended up meeting Usopp on the way. The man looked absolutely miserable and was sporting a brutal red slap mark across one of his cheeks. He didn't even notice their approach, kicking a pebble absently as he heaved in big breaths. It was clear to everyone that he'd just done something physically exhausting and, if the downtrodden look on his face was any indication, his mental state wasn't much better.

When Usopp finally did notice their approach he simply muttered a bitter, "Oh it's you." before suddenly blinking and looking at Luffy in shock, "You're not dead!?"

"Dead? No. I just woke up!" He explained, the three kids nodding in agreement beside him.

"Anyway, we know everything - we have to tell everyone about the pirates!" Piiman shouted anxiously, trying to steer the conversation to the big issue.

"Tell everyone?" Usopp's face twisted into a grimace before immediately turning into a wide - too wide to be real - smile, "Hahaha! You guys should know better; I was lying." He stared at the three with an amused look on his face. "I just really hate that guy so I tried to make him look bad." This statement was punctuated by a nervous chuckle.

The three children looked first at him then among themselves.

"Lying?" Ninjin was confused by his leader's words.

"I really thought it was true!" Piiman sheepishly admitted.

Tamanegi was the most suspicious out of the three, "Why were you playing along?" He directed at Luffy in consternation. The straw-hat wearer just gave him a questioning look as if he didn't entirely understand what he was getting at.

"But the captain shouldn't do that!" Ninjin started.

"Yeah, captain's should never make up stories about others - I don't like it..." Tamanegi trailed off slowly.

"Let's go, I'm hungry!" Piiman concluded, turning to leave without so much as a glance as Usopp. The other two followed him and before too long the three were disappearing over the horizon. The remaining people on the street all had serious expressions on their face, recognising what Usopp had done.

"You sent them away to protect them didn't you?" Nami stated, more a rhetorical question than anything.

Usopp nodded slowly, "No one in the town would believe me, it's better if I do this by myself." If his body language was anything to go by, the man was absolutely terrified of the idea of fighting alone.

Naruto looked over at Luffy blankly, "We're helping aren't we?"

"Yep!" Luffy grinned.

"Good people like you shouldn't have to fight alone." Zoro muttered lowly at Usopp, standing and stretching his limbs.

"You guys are helping me..." Usopp clarified with an unrecognisable tone, "Why?"

"Because the enemies outnumber you!" Luffy explained good-naturedly.

"Because you look scared shitless." Zoro sarcastically added. Nami and Naruto remained silent and simply nodded in assent.

"Idiots!" Usopp's voice grew furious, "The great Usopp isn't scared! I don't need your sympathy." He spat out in frustration.

"I don't feel sorry for you..." Naruto frowned, he felt bad for how inadequate Ussop felt as a result of them.

Zoro snorted, "We're commending you for your courage." Usopp stared at the man in wonder, amazed that this random group of pirates were both so willing to help and so laid back about it.

"Why else would we risk our lives." Luffy finished with a dark grin plastered across his face.

* * *

The five of them stood at the top of the cliff-side entrance, staring at the now oil-slicked pathway up. Usopp grinned at the sight while Nami smirked in approval - for them this was _exactly _how they liked to fight. Luffy likewise had no issue and was content to watch the oil slowly slide downwards from gravity ad they waited. Zoro and Naruto were the only two displeased with the situation - Zoro had always been one to prefer fair fights while Naruto was uncomfortable with such underhanded tactics.

"Do we have to do this?" The blonde asked carefully.

Usopp looked over to him, "If they can't even get up here then we won't have to fight!" He looked relieved by the idea.

"If they can't even get up here then they're not _worth _fighting." Zoro sneered as he tried to justify the trick to himself. Luffy nodded emphatically at this while Naruto remained silent, still frowning in displeasure.

"Anyway," Usopp began to speak, "What're you guys good at?"

"Stretching~" Luffy announced in a sing-song voice.

"Cutting." Zoro added in a deadpan voice.

"Stealing!" Nami chirped in.

Naruto considered the question, "I... don't know." It was true, he'd never really thought about his powers beyond using them to restrict people or to escape them.

"Hmm, we'll have to fix that later!" Luffy concluded, nonplussed by Naruto's admission.

Usopp meanwhile, looked at the horizon, "The sun's rising... they should be here." An uneasy feeling was forming in the pit of his stomach.

"It _is _morning..." Zoro agreed slowly.

Nami suddenly cupped a hand to her ear, "I can hear some shouting north of us." She frowned, "You don't suppose...?" She seemed scared to voice her thoughts.

"The north!?" Usopp had a horrified look on his face, "Oh no! I assumed because they spoke down here that they'd use this entrance - there's another entrance at the north side of the village!" He hurriedly explained to the others. Nami gave him a look exasperation while Luffy hunched his shoulders, tensing in preparation to dart off.

"Where're they going to attack from!?" Luffy demanded.

"It only takes three minutes to get there from here," Usopp replied in an equally quick tone, "The landscape is pretty much the same so we still just have to stop them from getting up the slope!" Luffy, satisfied with the response, turned and began to run.

"I'll only need twenty seconds to get there!" Luffy shouted behind his shoulder as he disappeared into the treeline.

Just as he shouted Nami slipped into the oil they'd put down and, in her panic, grabbed Zoro, "Ahhh!" She screamed, pulling the man down into the oil with her. Zoro grunted in anger and confusion. While this was all happening Naruto was still staring at the spot Luffy had run off from before he suddenly blinked in realisation of what had happened.

"Luffy!" The blonde shouted before he dashed off in pursuit of the teen.

Usopp, caught between helping Nami and Zoro or stopping the pirates, simply turned toward the direction he knew the north entrance was at and ran off, "Damn it!" He cursed, angry he'd caused this mess with his lack of forethought.

* * *

Somehow Naruto was the first to arrive at the northern cliff-side. He'd lost Luffy somewhere in the forested area surrounding the village and so had presumed when he did finally reach the beachhead that his captain would already be there and, knowing him, engaging with all sorts of enemies. To be greeted with the sight of a slope bereft of life and a beach rapidly filling with pirates was disoncerting to say the least.

He only wondered for a moment what'd happened to Luffy before dismissing it from his mind. He had more important things to worry about right now - like the considerable amount of pirates who were leaving their ship and making their way toward the entryway to the village. Naruto frowned as he watched them silently, hidden from their view.

He wasn't sure what to do. The blonde would have very little trouble stopping the pirates from getting up the slope; most of them looked weak and undisciplined. Of course, doing so would likely summon the stronger enemies and engaging without any information probably wasn't the best way to deal with things.

"This is your last warning!" Naruto was interrupted mid-thought by Usopp's voice, "If you don't turn around now my billion strong crew will destroy you!" The man was standing directly in the middle of the slope and holding his slingshot in his hands. From the tone of his voice and the lie itself the man was delirious with fear. Still, Naruto couldn't help but respect the fact that even with that fear he still stood strong in the face of the pirates.

"What a stupid lie!" One of the pirates growled out, his head adorned with cat ears.

"You dare to try and trick me?" The hypnotist, clearly a leader, was shaking in anger, "You really are a pain."

"Captain! We found treasure on these boats! At least four or five million beli's worth!" Another man announced loudly, pointing at Nami's boat.

Usopp saw an opportunity and quickly took it, "That treasure is mine - if you leave right now I'll let you have it!" He shouted down at the pirates. The hypnotist considered his offer for a few moments before a satisfied smile appeared over his face.

"Hmm, I'll definitely take the treasure," He explained carefully, "But I don't see why I should have to leave." At this the man pulled out a circular blade that was hanging from some string. "Now, when I say one, two _Jango _you have to let us through."

Usopp stared silently at the man, confused by his odd actions. Before he allowed himself to be hypnotised however, he was struck across the back by a wooden staff. Immediately following the weapon was the hard heel of a boot as Nami bowled over the top of him. The woman looked furious to say the least and even from Naruto's position in the trees the girl's anger was palpable.

"That's _my _treasure! Don't touch it, not even a single beli!" At this she brandished her staff viciously and looked over to Usopp, "And you - don't give my stuff away as you please."

Usopp grimaced at her words and gingerly rubbed his head, "Ok, ok! You didn't need to hit me though..." He grumbled.

"That man's a hypnotist, I was just stopping him from tricking you." She explained easily. The orange-haired girl suddenly looked around in surprise, "Where's Luffy? He should be here already."

"Don't know but we need to deal with these guys." The man replied, settling his goggles on his face as he did so.

"You go," Nami spoke with an air of false confidence, "I'll back you up from here." Usopp nodded grimly and shuffled through his bag, legs shaking in fear.

Naruto watched the entire exchange concealed in the forested area surrounding the cliff with no small amount of concern; he was pretty sure there were too many pirates for the two to handle and from the looks of Usopp and Nami's body language they knew it too. Despite this, Usopp engaged with the opposing warriors, throwing a handful of caltrops on the floor of the slope in reaction to the pirates beginning their ascent. The group screamed and hollered as they travelled toward the sling-shot user. Some fell victim to the painful objects on the floor but most avoided them and so Usopp and Nami turned tail to run, recognising a futile gesture when they saw one.

Unfortunately for them some of the caltrops were spread out across their exist and so they hesitated in their retreat. That stutter in movement was all that both Naruto and the pirates needed to recognise they were in a state of weakness. Even being as far away as he was Naruto was the first to arrive in front of Usopp, wood growing and coalescing around his arms as he held them out in an x-shape to block the attack of a pirate swinging a stone axe of some sort.

The two clashed just in front of the long-nosed liar and Nami, who'd turned to see Usopp about to be struck, couldn't help a sharp stab of relief hit her at the appearance of the nature-boy. Immediately following that was embarrassment that she was being saved by a child of all people. Of course, her sense of self-preservation ruled over even that shame so she was still happy to see him.

"Naruto!" She breathed in joy.

The boy didn't react, grunting as he held back the force of the axe with his arms alone. Usopp, unfamiliar with his powers, was worried he'd just witnessed a kid break both his arms in order to protect him. Of course, when Naruto showed no sign of pain and actually pushed _back _with his hands he knew something weird was going on. When the boy's right arm morphed into a sharp blade of some sort he grew even more suspicious of foul-play.

Naruto meanwhile had rapidly changed his arm to imitate a sword's edge in the form of wood before stabbing forward with it. The pirate, who was still reeling both from the force of Naruto's block and from the shock of seeing his mysterious powers, suddenly found himself pierced in the side of his stomach and he screamed in pain. The blonde didn't visibly react to the sound and simply pushed the man off his blade with his foot. The pirate flew backwards and tumbled down the slope, colliding with several of his crewmates as he did so.

Naruto's hand quickly returned to normal, blood dripping off of his fingers onto the floor of the slope.

Usopp took in the scene with silent awe while Nami simply stared with a combination of gratitude and disbelief; she'd known Naruto had eaten a Devil Fruit but she'd assumed he either wasn't well versed in his powers or it was simply a weak one - he'd never given such a brutal display of strength in front of her. It was disconcerting to say the least considering she'd assumed the boy was only in the crew out of one of Luffy's passing whims. Now she understood that deep beneath the veneer of stupidity and naivety that her supposed captain wore there was a perceptive mind - why else would he have Zoro and Naruto as his first two crewmembers?

This then begged the question; what did he see in her?

But she didn't have time to think about that right now considering the dozens of pirates that were now staring in horror at their fallen comrade. Something told her that things were about to turn bad really fast and, if the tense look on Naruto's face was anything to go by, the blonde realised the foreboding feeling in the air as well.

For several seconds both sides just stood silently in the aftermath of Naruto's appearance.

"Oi!" Jango shouted loudly, "Hurry up and start moving, you idiots! He'll _kill_ us if we're late." As soon as the fear was voiced the pirates were scrambling over the top of each other to get up the slope.

"He's right, Captain will murder us if we don't move!" One particularly scared pirate reiterated. His terror seemed to travel through the group as a sense of hysteria washed over them. One by one they started charging at Naruto, Nami and Usopp.

Nami stepped back from the sight in fear while Usopp drew his slingshot shakily. Naruto meanwhile extended both hands out wide similar to a gesture of welcome though the expression he was wearing indicated it was anything but. Just as the first few pirates were within feet of them Usopp's first shot flew out of his slingshot.

"_Makibishi Jigoku!_" This time, instead of simply dropping the caltrops on the ground, he shot them out of his slingshot. They struck the Black Cat Pirates with force and sunk deeply into the skin of the men. Several squeals and groans of pain reverberated around the cliff-side all at once but very few were stopped by the attack. Most simply shrugged off the small pain of the weapons and continued their assent.

Naruto, resigned that he'd have to stop them, spoke harshly, "_Okkanai Yasuragi!_" Dozens of vines sprouted up out of the earth and wrapped around many of the hapless pirates, holding them in place. Naruto's hands were splayed out wide as the vines twisted and contorted around the bodies of countless pirates, stopping their ascent. Despite his best efforts though, a few avoided his vines. Nami, seeing the efforts of Usopp and Naruto, struck at some of the pirates with her staff, knocking them down the slope.

Even with the orange-haired girls involvement the Black Cats still kept coming and so Naruto, still holding many of the pirates in placed, prepared to use more powerful and dangerous techniques of his devil fruit. Before he could however, he was distracted by a long stretching arm that flew past his face and hit several of the still advancing Black Cat Pirates. The assault of the stretched fist on their enemies caused a chain reaction as they fell down the slope and knocked dozens of their crew with them. Naruto allowed his vines to recede as the pirates he'd been holding in place were dragged down to the bottom. In seconds almost all the pirates were back where they started at the beach in a heap of tangled limbs.

"Nami!"

"Usopp!"

"How could you step on me like that!?" - "Next time, tell me where north is!"

Luffy and Zoro screamed angrily in sync from their position at the very top of the slope.

Jango's eyes narrowed as he took in their appearance, "We don't have time for this." He announced suddenly, "If we don't hurry, Kuro will kill us." The way he said it implied it wasn't just an expression of speech and, from the way the group of pirates reacted to their captain's name, it seemed they took it literally as well. Luffy and Zoro meanwhile stomped forwards angrily until they were beside Naruto, in front of Nami and Usopp. The three stared off against the invading pirates before Zoro sneered.

"They all look weak." The swordsman evaluated. Luffy didn't respond but nodded his head in agreement.

Jango sighed, "I guess it can't be helped." He looked over at the imposing ship they'd arrived on, "Sham! Buchi! Come help deal with these people." As he spoke he beckoned two mysterious people on the deck to come ashore. Immediately, the two figures jumped off the ship and darted up until they were beside Jango.

"Oh, is this a job for the Nyaban brothers?" A voice loudly interrupted, "You haven't needed us to kill someone in a while..." The big one, Buchi, grinned as he spoke.

"We haven't had fun for some time." Sham agreed, his figure slim and tall.

"Stop messing around - we're already late and you know how Captain Kuro is!" Jango whined in distress.

The two supposed brothers narrowed their eyes as the hypnotist spoke, clearly understanding what he was implying. Immediately their entire attitude changed and they moved toward Luffy's group with a much more serious demeanor. They knew from personal experience how unforgiving Kuro was, which meant they had to deal with these people - and do it fast.

Zoro stepped forward with a smirk on his face, "I'll take care of these two." He announced, his confidence palpable. Sham, recognising the size of the man's ego, decided to to an unorthodox approach. He began to cower in fear.

"B-But Jango," He stuttered in fake terror, "That guy seems really strong!" Zoro, disgusted with the shivering of his opponent, strode toward him, intending to knock him out in a swift blow.

"Coward." The pirate hunter muttered absently.

Sham squealed at this and fell to the ground, "O-Oh, uh..." It was like the man's life was flashing before his eyes. Zoro ignored the attitude and simply prepared to knock the man out. Before he could move however, Naruto interrupted him.

"Wait." The blonde announced, "He's trying to trick you." And to be honest, Naruto wondered how on earth no one else picked up on it. After all, the cat-man was practically radiating dark intentions. Zoro's eyes narrowed immediately as his crewmate spoke and his previous lax approach shifted into a much more defensive one. In reaction to this Sham himself straightened his posture and a dark smirk flickered across his face.

"Hmm, it seems you caught me," The man intoned dramatically, "No matter... Buchi, let's take this guy out now!" The two brothers grinned in anticipation while Zoro merely drew his three blades and positioned himself in the default stance for Santoryu. Without another word Zoro darted forward, intending to put Sham out of commission.

As soon as he reached the slim cat-man he slashed all three of his katana at the man, hoping to catch him across the chest. Sham however, managed to avoid the blades by contorting his body, his incredible flexibility saving him from injury.

_"Neko Baba." _Sham announced cockily as he moved side-to-side to avoid Zoro's strikes. What proceeded was a game of cat and mouse as the swordsman slashed and hacked at his opponent while Sham simply did his best to avoid the strikes. As soon he he had the opportunity the cat-man launched himself further back than usual, several meters away from Zoro.

His reasons for doing so soon became clear when his brother's voice broke through the sounds of their battle, _"Kyatto Za Funjyatta!" _The large man jumped toward Zoro, intending to land on top of him and deal damage through his body weight. Fortunately, the green-haired man saw it coming and simply leapt away. A small crater formed where Buchi landed and the two cat-men immediately launched into action.

"_Neko-Yanagi Daikōshin!" _They shouted in synchronisation as they darted at Zoro. They attack wildly with their claws but Zoro had little trouble blocking their strikes with his three blades. It was obvious to all watching that while the brothers were fast and worked well together they didn't have any real style to their attacks and Zoro's superior skills were shining through. The swordsman blocked their attacks easily while the two wasted their energy pointlessly attacking.

Before Zoro could retaliate another voice broke through the air, "What is going on?" Kuro could be seen at the top of the hill - behind Naruto, Nami, Usopp and Luffy. His expression was nothing short of furious and he was wielding a pair of long, wicked claws. As he spoke the man carefully adjusted his glasses with the palm of his hand.

At the man's appearance Buchi and Sham visibly cowered, their fear palpable. Jango and the rest of the Black Cat Pirates meanwhile, looked absolutely terrified. To Luffy and co. it was clear that the man's arrival and obvious displeasure was not something you wanted.

"C-Captain!" Jango stuttered in terror. Kuro narrowed his eyes and concentrated on the man, a wicked look flashing across his face.

"You are _late_, Jango." He hissed in fury, "What is the point of the plan if you fools can't even follow it? I won't have you messing anything up."

Jango quickly begged for forgiveness, "But captain these guys got in the way - they're too strong for us to deal with." He grimaced as he finished speaking, already knowing what was coming.

"Oh?" Kuro raised a delicate eyebrow, "Well I guess you're all useless then. And you know what I do to useless trash?" Kuro disappeared in a flash of speed. All around the slope countless pirates began to shout and scream in pain as they were struck by an unknown force. To the normal eye Kuro was just a blur as he flickered through the crowd of pirates and dealt untold damage to friends and foes alike. His attacks continued on for several seconds and Naruto, who'd been standing silently as the two Black Cat Pirates had talked, found himself twisting instinctively to avoid a slash from Kuro's claws.

Unfortunately, while Naruto had moved fast enough to avoid any damage the strike still left three jagged lines down his shirt. The blonde frowned; if he'd known the attack was coming he'd have used his Logia powers to avoid any damage but he hadn't had the conscious ability to transform due to the unpredictable nature of the man's attacks. Now because of that his shirt was ruined.

The rest of Luffy's group meanwhile eyed the ruined state of Naruto's shirt in concern - it was clear that if you _were _hit by Kuro's claws then significant damage would be dealt. Zoro and Nami in particular narrowed their eyes as they took notice of the tightly wound bandages wrapped around the entirety of Naruto's body underneath his shirt; the boy had never indicated he'd had any injuries and, from their interactions, didn't seem impeded in any way - which begged the question; what was the purpose of the bandages?

Finally, after countless members of the Black Cats were struck down callously by their captain, Kuro stopped his assault. He reappeared at the top of the slope with a dark smirk. It was obvious to everyone that he was pleased by his actions - pleased that he'd taken out his own subordinates. Jango likewise didn't seem surprised by the actions while the two Nyaban brothers were shaking in fear.

"_Nuki Ashi_." Kuro intoned quietly from his position looking down at the crowd.

While Nami, Zoro and Naruto were all eyeing the wounded Black Cat's with great distaste Luffy was almost shaking in anger - attacking his own crewmates so coldly and without any regard for their health disgusted the straw-hat wearer. It went against everything he believed in about pirate crews and only made Luffy more sure of his decision to help the village. Usopp was also shaking, though for him it was out of terror.

It was at this precise moment that another presence made itself known at the top of the slope, closer to the forest than Kuro.

"Klahadore!" Kaya shouted across the mountainous terrain, "Stop this at once!"

Kuro's raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Ojousama? What are you doing here?" He questioned mildly.

"Stop with the act - Merry told me everything!" Kaya screamed back, her voice tinged with anger and fear.

"He's still alive?" Kuro had a pondering expression on his face, "I'll have to fix that later."

"Klahadore, you want my wealth right?" Kaya stuttered out fearfully, "If you stop I'll give you everything!"

The pirate snorted, "You misunderstand, I don't just want your wealth, I want your peaceful life too. And the only way I'll get that is by killing everyone here." The man allowed a vicious grin to flicker across his face. As soon as he announced this Kaya panicked and reached into her coat, hands shaking as she did so. Pulling out a pistol, the girl took aim at her supposed butler with in fury.

"If you don't stop then-" She gulped, "I'll stop you!" Her voiced wavered as she spoke and it was clear Kaya didn't have the heart to follow through with her threat.

Kuro smirked darkly, "Will you now?" He darted forward, intending to kill the girl while she was still hesitating. Before he could get close however, he was struck across the fist but a stretching arm.

"Osu!" Luffy grinned widely, "Time to fight then!"

Kuro stood up, fury etching into his being. Just as he was about to move to fight the teen he was interrupted by the sounds of voices behind him.

"Don't fear! The Usopp Pirates are here!" The three kids, Tamanegi, Ninjiin and Piiman, had appeared behind Kaya. They were wielding makeshift weapons and looked out of place on the battlefield.

"What are you guys doing here!?" Usopp was stricken with terror.

"Captain lied to us again!" Piiman explained.

"Not a very good example to set!" Tamanegi elaborated, "But don't worry, we're here to fight."

"And we'll never run like cowards." Ninjiin concluded bravely.

"Oh?" Kuro laughed cruelly before tensing up and moving toward the children. The three kids visibly shrank at the sight of the terrifying-looking man but held strong, refusing to back away.

"You guys!" Usopp shouted hastily, "Take Kaya and run... You must protect Kaya!" Usopp ordered in desperation, hoping to get them away from the fighting.

At this the kids looked visibly relieved, "Yes, captain!" They chorused proudly, moving to grab the girl. Unfortunately they'd forgotten about the approach of the dangerous pirate.

Kuro smirked, "Die." He moved to strike out at the three.

This time it was Naruto who interrupted.

A loud clash could be heard as Naruto stood in front of the pirate, arms sharpened into wooden blades, holding off the claws. Vines were visible all around his body and contorted wildly around him. Wildlife sporadically shrunk and grew all around the boy. It looked like for all intents and purposes that the natural life was responding to Naruto's cold, angry expression on his face. Luffy and Zoro found the entire situation very interesting, after all the boy hadn't displayed much negative emotion in the time he'd been with them. Right now he was visibly upset.

"Get out here." Naruto requested softly to Kaya and the children. They quickly obeyed, scrambling away into the forest that outlined the top of the cliff-side.

"Tch!" Kuro clicked his tongue in distaste, "I guess I'll have to deal with all of you before I can kill the girl." He turned to look down the slope where many of his injured and incapacitated crew-mates lay, "Jango, follow them and do your job."

The hypnotized, who'd been watching the scene unfold, moved quickly, "S-Sure thing, captain!" The man moved up the slope, intending to leave. Before he could get far however Zoro stood in front of him.

"You're not going anywhere." The swordsman was grinning darkly. Jango grimaced slightly before noticing two presences moving directly toward the green-haired man. It was the Nyaban brothers again, they had moved to intercept Zoro.

"Oi Buchi, I guess we'll have to get serious with this guy." Sham's bravado was clearly fake to everyone but it seemed the brothers' fear of their captain outweighed their fear of Zoro.

Jango nodded in thanks, "Sham, Buchi; hold him off." And with that the man continued his journey up the slope. He passed Luffy, Nami and Usopp, all three not moving an inch. Luffy, most curiously, was watching the man with a contemplative expression on his face.

Nami grew upset at the inaction of her supposed crew-mates, "What are you doing? Aren't you going to stop him?" She demanded. Luffy blinked slowly as he watched the man disappear into the trees.

"Naruto," The straw-hat wearer announced, "Go help the ojousama."

Naruto nodded, "Ok." And without any preamble the boy jumped back away from Kuro before darting off toward the treeline. The captain of the Black Cat Pirates growled in frustration - unhappy with how things were going. Before he could move to stop the blonde however, he found himself facing Luffy.

The teen had jumped to replace Naruto as soon as the boy had left and was grinning from ear to ear, "So, about that fight?"

* * *

Naruto found them facing off against Jango deep in the forest. All around the immediate area trees had been cut down viciously, only stumps remaining. Kaya was sitting on the floor with her back against a tree and she was clearly exhausted. Two of the children meanwhile had scattered around her in the face of Jango's cruel looking circular blade. The other was being held by the Black Cat pirate with the blade against his throat - it was the one with the glasses, Tamanegi. The man was smirking darkly at the group , delighting in the fear he was bringing out of them and his hostage.

Naruto moved without hesitation, placing himself between the pirate and Kaya and the two kids. Jango narrowed his eyes in worry at his appearance, gripping Tamanegi tighter.

"What are you doing here?" The man was concerned about his sudden appearance and what it meant for the battle at the slope.

Naruto, seeing an opportunity to scare the man out of fighting, explained lightly, "Your captain's a little busy right now. He won't be coming to help, if that's what you're wondering."

Jango shrugged, "I think I'll be fine." He gestured with the blade at Tamanegi's throat, "Here's how it's going to work; the girl is going to come with me and this brat. When I know I'm far enough away from you I'll let the kid go."

Naruto grimaced, "Sorry, but I've been told to protect her."

"Do you want this child's death on your conscience?" Jango was ignoring the fact that he was talking to another child to begin with as he made his threat.

Naruto tensed his muscles and drew in the power of his devil fruit. All around him the ground shook as the countless trees Jango had mutilated regrew and and healed and a sea of leaves flew around the group. For Kaya and the kids it was an awe-inspiring image, as if nature itself was submitting to the blonde boy's whims.

"Let him go." The blonde requested carefully.

"You don't scare me, boy." Despite what he said the man did look slightly cowed, "You think this is the first time I've seen a devil fruit user? You certainly aren't the strongest either... control over greenery? Pfft." The man snorted loudly and it was obvious he was trying to convince himself of his own bravado. Naruto didn't react to the man's insults, instead choosing to tense in preparation for a fight.

Naruto closed his eyes, "Last chance. If you don't release him and surrender then I'll have to get serious." At this the trees seemed to lean in around the group, responding to the blonde's growing frustration.

"Go fuck yours-" Jango paused mid-sentence before letting out a shrill scream, "AHHH!"

As soon as the man had started speaking vines had erupted behind him, wrapping his arms and raising them in the air. As this happened another vine closed around his throat and pulled him backwards while two small wooden blades formed from the branches scattered on the floor around them and shot out of the ground from under his feet, effectively stabbing them and pinning them in place like stakes. This meant his feet were held in place while he was pulled until he was laying on his back on the floor. As soon as he landed his hands, which had been held outwards by the vines, were also stabbed by wooden blades.

The result was Jango spreadeagled on his back on the floor, all his limbs held down by wooden stakes. It all happened in a seconds and the man was screaming bloody murder throughout. Even as it finished his screams devolved into small moans of pain.

"_Kutsujokuteki Yasuragi_." Naruto announced quietly, his voice tight and controlled. Kaya and the kids were staring wide-eyed at the scene, shocked at the merciless brutality of the blonde boy. Tamanegi was still unmoved from where Jango had been holding him, not even having had time to react before the man had been captured.

Naruto walked slowly over to the pirate who was still groaning from the pain he was in. He crouched down beside him and grabbed the man's head by his hair. Offering an apologetic look the boy slammed Jango's head into the ground. Hard. The hypnotist's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he was knocked unconscious from the force of the blow.

"Wow." Zoro's voice pierced the air, "That was pretty cold. Didn't know you had it in you..." The man was leaning on one of the few unharmed trees a dozen meters away. He had an impressed look on his face, as if he'd enjoyed the callous actions of Naruto. Knowing him he probably had.

The three children were broken out of their spell by his appearance, "Wah!" They squealed in fright.

"Does this mean Klahadore's been stopped?" Kaya voiced uneasily, trying to make sense of Zoro's appearance.

Zoro just shrugged, "Dunno, probably." The man looked up at the sky before settling his gaze on Naruto, "Now that this guy's been dealt with, let's go find out." The swordsman didn't wait for a response, moving off in a specific direction. When no one followed he turned to look at the group, "What? You don't want to see?"

Kaya and the kids looked uneasily at each other while Naruto, lacking their fear, simply pointed in a completely different direction, "Ah, the cliff-side is that way, Zoro-san."

Zoro froze, an embarrassed looking flying across his face. He turned around with a huff and moved in the direction Naruto had pointed, grumbling about 'stupid villages' and 'stupid formal kids' the whole time.

* * *

On their way out of the forest the group ended up meeting Usopp, who had been intending to rescue Kaya from Jango after leaving Kuro to Luffy. Besides being slightly miffed that his chance to be a hero had been taken from him the man was incredibly relieved that she and the kids were safe, tearing up at the sight of them. They quickly exchanged explanations for what happened on their end before continuing their journey out of the forest.

When they returned to the slope they were greeted with a half destroyed cliff-side, gaping holes and rocks scattered all around. What was missing was the Black Cat Pirates and their crew. Luffy and Nami could be seen sitting at the top of the slope, with the former lying on his back and breathing heavily. For all intents and purposes it looked like the straw-hat wearer had won, if the grin on Nami's face was anything to go by.

Usopp, upon realising they'd finally saved the village and Kaya specifically, let out a small smile as he collapsed next to the young teen. When he did Luffy looked up to see the entire group also setting themselves up around them. The exceptions to this were Zoro, who stood silently in the background with his arms crossed, and Naruto, who was spinning a leaf in his hand beside the quiet swordsman.

While Kaya, Usopp and the kids celebrated Luffy and Nami stood, making their way over to the two other members of their crew.

"You won." Zoro stated calmly.

Luffy grinned, "Of course." The teen looked over at Naruto, "You beat the weirdo." The way he said it made it sound like it was fact rather then him asking.

"Yeah," Naruto grimaced thinking about what he did, "I guess so."

"Good!" Luffy slapped Naruto's back, "Good." he ruffled his air, smiling softly. Naruto allowed a pleased look to cross his face for a second at the actions before he quickly composed his expression into something neutral. Zoro watched the interaction silently.

Nami meanwhile inspected the state of her supposed crew. Luffy hate several nasty slashes across his upper body and looked fairly worn out while Zoro had a few small cuts and his clothes were ruffled from his scuffles from the Nyaban brothers - he however, didn't look at all tired. Naruto had no actual injuries though the front of his shirt was ruined and there was still the question of those mysterious bandages underneath...

Overall though, they'd gotten out pretty unscathed.

It was Kaya who ended up grabbing the attention of the entire group.

"So you said you needed a ship?" Kaya directed the question to Luffy.

* * *

The next day the crew found themselves once again setting off from an island, though this time it was with an actual ship. Usopp's intended goodbye had transformed into him accompanying them on their journey while Kaya had made an emotional parting with the man. After what seemed like hours but was only minutes the group finally left the beach-side on the deck of their new ship; the Going Merry._  
_

"So, where to next?" Zoro questioned as the five of them stood around on the deck while sailing away.

"Hmm," Luffy adopted an intense look of concentration, "Dunno."

At this Zoro rubbed his head in consternation while Nami let out a wild howl, "_Luffy!_" Naruto laughed at the scene. Usopp watched it silently, an odd feeling settling in the bottom of his stomach. The warmth that was spreading through his body, Usopp realised, was what it felt like to belong.

"Who cares?" Luffy shouted, "Think about that later! We gotta celebrate a new crew-member." Luffy grinned wildly, "Food!"

Zoro smirked back, "Alcohol!"

The two quickly dashed off to find their respective desires. Naruto grinned at the site before collapsing onto the staircase to relax while Nami sighed in resignation and joined him. Usopp stood dumbly in the same spot for the seconds it took the other two to return. Zoro flew around handing out cups and Luffy jumped into the centre of the deck.

"To a new nakama!" The black-haired teen shouted proudly, gesticulating wildly with his cup. The five members drank with a cheer, Zoro the only one to guzzle down alcohol.

* * *

_"This'd be way more fun if you didn't have that stupid collar around your neck!" A voice announced suddenly. Naruto, who was sitting on the floor playing with a collection of pirate figurines, winced as he heard the words. He looked over to the person who had spoke them - another young boy a little older than him - and found himself agreeing with the sentiment. The boy recognised he was being stared at and added, "Don't you agree, Naruto?"_

_Naruto, put on the spot, nodded slowly, "Yeah..."_

_There was a brief period of silence._

_"I'm gonna speak to daddy," The other boy decided, "I'll convince him to take it off." The boy tilted his head innocently at Naruto, sporting a huge grin as he spoke. It was obvious that to him there was now no end result other than the removal of the object from Naruto's neck. The very idea of 'daddy' denying his request was absurd; he __**always **__got his way._

Naruto's eyes opened as he quickly sat up and let out a quiet gasp of surprise. It took a few seconds for his mind to right itself before he realised he'd only been dreaming. He wondered why exactly he thought up that particular memory when he slept though - the nightmarish experiences of his past hadn't bothered him in a long, long time. Not because he was over them but more because he simply refused to acknowledge them.

To suddenly remember something - and in particular, one of the worst moments he could think of - was jarring and left him unsettled. The blonde silently slipped out of the hammock he'd been laying in and out of the room entirely, avoiding the hanging feet of Usopp as he did so. When he finally found himself out on the deck of the Going Merry he let out a deep breath he didn't even realise he'd been holding in. The cold sea winds of the night hit his face and he felt his previous anxiety being washed away in the face of such a soothing environment.

After a brief period of simply thinking about nothing Naruto considered the dream. Did he feel uncomfortable with his new surroundings? Was that what brought it on? Somehow he doubted the Going Merry was responsible. After all, he'd been sleeping fine on the smaller boats when they'd left Orange Town. He didn't think it was the addition of Usopp either - the teen was as far from the people of his past that he could imagine. Naruto couldn't think of why he'd experienced the memory and that, more than anything, scared him.

"Oi," A voice pierced through his thoughts, "What're ya doing?" It was Luffy, hanging from the crows nest. The boy had a careful smile on his face that was altogether much more serious than his usual expression, as if he understood Naruto wasn't in a very good frame of mind. Naruto blinked in surprise at his captain's appearance but didn't answer him. "What's wrong?" Luffy asked innocently, recognising the disturbed mental state of the boy.

Naruto didn't know how to respond to the question and so decided honesty was the best path to take, "Nothing really - just... memories." He muttered uneasily, not comfortable with the idea of spilling his heart to the goofy teen. As he spoke Luffy gave him an intense stare unlike anything Naruto had ever seen before, as if he could see deep into his soul.

"Oh!" The stare suddenly broke as a wide grin splayed across the straw-hat wearers face, "I just remembered! Hold on a sec." At this Luffy dropped down to the deck level and disappeared into the hull. There was a series of crashes and curses that could be heard emanating inside that Naruto knew had disturbed the sleep of their other crewmates. When Luffy returned and no one followed though, he assumed they mustn't have cared enough about what Luffy was up to to get out of bed.

The black-haired male returned with a bottle in his hand and a satisfied look on his face. When he approached Naruto recognised the drink as one of Zoro's - it was sake and certainly not something he'd ever seen Luffy have before. The entire concept of alcohol seemed very much outside of Luffy's character.

"I completely forgot about this!" Luffy uncorked the bottle as he spoke and he pulled Naruto toward the front of the ship. When they were there he sat down on the deck cross-legged, pulling Naruto down with him. "My brothers and I did this when we were younger - it's pretty cool!" He explained enthusiastically.

Naruto wondered for a moment exactly how many brothers Luffy had - and why he'd never spoken about them.

"They say," The straw-hat wearer continued, "When you share drinks with someone you become brothers." At this the boy put the bottle to his lips and chugged a few mouthfuls down. As soon as he finished he made a disgusted face that made it clear he hated the taste. He placed the bottle in Naruto's hands, "So, what do ya say?" He smirked at the younger boy.

Naruto didn't move for a moment, content to simply stare at the bottle of alcohol in his hands. Seconds ticked away soundlessly as the boy simply looked at the sake in his hands. Finally, Naruto moved the bottle carefully to his lips and took a small sip. As he did so Luffy looked so utterly pleased with himself that Naruto couldn't help but be happy he'd drank. As soon as he'd had a mouthful the blonde stopped, handing the bottle back to the other with a distasteful look on his face.

"Now we're officially brothers!" Luffy shouted loudly, his voice flying across the ocean.

"How old are you anyway?" Zoro's gruff voice interrupted their bonding. He was walking toward them from the direction of the cabin with a sour look on his face. Naruto realised he must have been woken up by Luffy when the teen went looking for the alcohol.

Luffy quickly replied, "No, no! Let me guess." He put his hand to his chin in a thinking pose, "Hmm, fourteen!"

Naruto shook his head, "No..."

"Then - then! - eight!" Luffy had a cheeky tone as he provided his second guess.

"I-Idiot!" Zoro groaned, "How can you go from fourteen to eight?" He was appalled by his captain's lack of common sense.

Luffy frowned, "Eleven then?"

"I'm twelve." Naruto clarified as he laughed at the banter between the two.

Zoro's eyes narrowed dangerously at this, "See! You _did _waste my good sake on a brat! He wouldn't even be able to appreciate it." The blonde thought this was probably the most upset he'd ever seen Zoro. Obviously Luffy had made Zoro hand over some alcohol when he went into the hull earlier and, from the sounds of things, it was from Zoro's private collection.

Luffy blinked innocently and replied, "Tastes bad anyway~" He jumped onto his feet, "Blegh, yuck!" He imitated spitting and held his throat as if he was gagging. Then, in the blink of an eye he threw the bottle into the ocean.

"That was expensive!" Zoro sputtered in rage, his eyes following the rapidly sinking bottle. "My _sake_..." Naruto was sure for a second that the green-haired man was going to jump in after it.

* * *

**A/N: Probably a lot of mistakes, sorry. It took a while too, sorry.**

**Finally got that god-awful first part of the crew-gathering out of the way. Things are looking up from now.**

**Can you guess who the kid in the flashback was?**

**Kutsujokuteki Yasuragi - Humiliating Serenity.**


End file.
